Make the best of it
by majik7
Summary: Keitaro - Brother/father. doing his best to give his 8 year old sister the life she deserves. Things come to a point where they just need to run away, it wasn't safe for her there anymore. Granny Hina hadn't so much as called them since his mother died 6 years ago. So it's him and Kanako vs the world for now. Heavily inspired by "Building Keitaro"
1. Not the life he planned for

CHAPTER 1 - Not the life he'd planned for

For the first time, the seats on the train felt comfortable enough that Keitaro

didn't have to readjust his position every few minutes. Of course, that probably had little to do with the seat itself, and more with the exhaustion that coursed through his body.

Like most that take this particular train, he was returning from a long days work. His head lay against the top of the seat, eyes closed and ears just listening to the clack of the railway.

'Another week gone by.' He thought.

He really wished that he could use these two days off and just relax to get ready for the coming week. But he knew better.

The 20 year old young man had obligations that wouldn't put themselves on hold just because he was tired.

The call for his stop echoed through the half filled apparatus, the small screech of the brakes being applied bringing him to a somewhat alert state of mind.

"Let's see… Meeting with the teacher tomorrow morning, doctor's appointment after that….And then….ice cream at the park while I get stared at like i'm a pedophile." Keitaro murmured to himself, going through a mental checklist of the next days events.

He could never tell exactly how long of a walk it was from the station back to the apartment building he begrudgingly called 'home'. He was usually either too tired to keep track, or too lost in his thoughts. All he knew, was to turn left out of the station, walk four intersections, take another left, then a right two side streets down.

A hand ran through his brown shaggy hair, shaking out the saw dust and other materials that had found themselves attached to him throughout the day.

Looking down at the hands that were _far_ too rugged to belong to someone his age, the scrapes, scars and callouses of a TV set builder only reminded him of just how far he'd strayed from the life he had imagined himself.

"From student to Breadwinner. Who'd have thought."

Keitaro caught sight of his reflection from one of the storefront windows at the last turn before he made it home.

Brown hair that couldn't be tamed, no matter the amount of grooming or hair product.

Light brown eyes narrowed to give the look of a man, not a teenager, that took himself seriously.

The tight jawline which only complimented his no nonsense appearance.

His body held a firm build, hours of hard work giving him a musculature that men spent indefinite hours in the gym to maintain.

Keitaro turned away from the window with a sigh, making the last turn before his apartment building came into view.

It was only 4 in the afternoon, which had worked out great for him. Keitaro much preferred to start early and end early.

Plus it gave him more time to spend with the person he loved more than anything else on this planet. The one that relied on him to be the serious, no nonsense person he'd become over the last 6 years.

Kanako, his far too energetic little sister. 8 years old, and looked like a breeze could carry her away with how tiny she was.

She should have arrived home just a few minutes before him, and should be waiting in the building managers office, just like they'd agreed.

His apartment was in a run down 2 story building with 5 units on each floor. The current manager had owned the building since it was first built in the 1960's, and had paid it off some years ago. That was the only reason the place hadn't been sold or closed, seeing as how only 3 units were filled at the moment.

Walking into the front door, Keitaro took his keys out and checked the mailbox that was on the wall to his right. The mail key and Keitaro never quite got along, as it took him on average 12 tried to get seated and turned to open the compartment.

About a half dozen envelopes sat waiting, 4 of which had bold red lettering with FINAL NOTICE plastered on them.

"*Sigh* just great." He hated this time of the month. Try as he might, he just couldn't seem to get caught up with all of his bills.

Twice now this had happened, his bills being 'lost in the mail', and therefore past due.

He made just enough money to pay each on time, but after these little mishaps, he couldn't afford to pay multiple months and get everything they needed. So they stayed just on the brink of going to collections.

With mail in hand, Keitaro walked down the hall and to the slightly opened door on the left side with 'Manager's Office' at eye level.

 **KNOCK KNOCK**

Keitaro opened the door and took a few steps inside. The desk at the far end of the room was where his query was located as usual.

A man in his early 70's, but looked no more than 55. Black hair, dark brown eyes, a serious air about him that mimicked Keitaro's. Dressed in a gray polo and jeans, to give a minor professional yet ready to work if need be appearance.

"Afternoon Urashima-san."

Returning the greeting, Keitaro's eyes glanced around, looking for his sister. The desk had an open bottom, so she couldn't be hiding under there, the couch against the wall was too short for her to get under. Keitaro turned his gaze back to his landlord.

"Is Kanako here yet?"

The manager shook his head.

"Haven't seen the little one all day i'm afraid."

'Strange.' Keitaro thought, this wasn't like her at all. She would normally be waiting to pounce on him the moment he stepped through the door.

"Thanks. I'll go check the apartment before calling the school."

With our waiting for a reply, Keitaro walked out of the room and towards the stairs to the second floor where his own apartment was.

'Please tell me you're not in there alone with _him_ Kanako.'

The drunk waste of space that was unfortunately Keitaro's father. 6 years ago he had been a successful business owner, alongside Keitaro's mother. A bakery and candy store that had been well known throughout the area, just on the brink of becoming a chain.

But then she had been diagnosed with stage 4 in-operable ovarian cancer. One month later, she took her final breath as Keitaro told her about his day at school.

His hand just about on the doorknob, Keitaro heard a familiar sound coming from inside.

'Not this again…'

The volume of the TV was far too loud, probably nearing its maximum. The sound of laughter and music seeped through the door.

It was the video from the wedding of Mr and Mrs. Urashima.

A video that only got played when his father had been on a heavy binge that day, which didn't bode well for what Keitaro would find inside.

As soon as the door opened, just like he thought, the volume was maxed on the tv.

The room smelled a sewer, and Keitaro had to pull his shirt over his nose to keep from vomiting.

Laying there on the couch,TV remote in hand, was his unconscious father.

Brown hair, long and disheveled from lack of proper hygiene. Crumbs from whatever he had tried to eat on his face.

What had once been a white T-shirt was stained with yellow, red and brown, and looking like it was straining to contain the gut of the man wearing it.

Gray sweat pants that the elastic band had been stretched from overuse.

His father's skin had been taking a yellow hue to it these last few months, a sign that the binge drinking was finally catching up to him.

'Good.' Keitaro thought.

The man hadn't been anything more than a burden for far too long. He knew that thought shouldn't have even crossed his mind, but Keitaro wouldn't feel anything but relief if the man who used to be his father ceased to exist.

'She already thinks i'm her dad anyway.'

That was something that Keitaro had tried and failed to get Kanako to realize.

She had been calling him 'Daddy' since they moved to this apartment. For an 8 year old little girl, she was extremely stubborn when she wanted to be. And this was just one of those things that he apparently would never change.

Her reasoning was fairly sound too.

 _"You take care of me, make me breakfast, lunch for school, dinner too. You get me clothes, make me take a bath, and play with me._ ** _He_** _, just yells and smells bad. So you're my daddy, not him."_ The hmph and head turn after her proclamation had apparently been the end of that discussion.

But _god_ did he ever wish she would learn not to call him that whenever her _real_ father, adopted or not, was actually awake.

Those days were some of the bigger reasons Keitaro _loathed_ the passed out alcoholic. The times he heard Kanako refer to Keitaro as her father sent him into a fury that only ended after he went unconscious, either from the booze, or Keitaro's fist.

Keitaro walked up to the TV and unplugged it, not wanting to even attempt getting close enough to his father to get the remote.

Now that silence reigned, Keitaro's other senses took in the full scope of his 'home'.

The smell was worse then usual. A mix of urine and vomit that Keitaro was sure would take forever to air out.

Dreading what he already knew, Keitaro walked into the small kitchen and opened the fridge.

He wished he hadn't.

Dry heaving as he quickly shut it, Keitaro mentally cursed his father with as many invectives as he could think of. Being around a group of middle aged blue collar guys forty hours a week, that was a _long_ list.

"Guess we're eating out tonight. The bastard can starve, enough fat on his bones to last him a month without food anyway."

Seeing the state the fridge was in gave Keitaro a better idea on just how plastered his father was.

The drawer where he usually put the vegetables had been pulled open and pissed in, and the shelves were covered in vomit. unfortunately this wasn't the first time.

'How you confuse a fridge for a toilet, i'll never understand.'

Out of the kitchen now, a familiar anger simmered in his veins as he walked down the hall to his and Kanako's room, thinking of just how much more work was required of him this weekend.

The door to his room was closed, a good sign that he would find her in there, as the door was almost always open unless they were sleeping.

'One, two, one.' Keitaro tapped on the door in the way that let Kanako know that it was him on the other side, and stepped inside.

"Daddy!"

"Oof!"

Keitaro nearly had the wind knocked out of him by a little black blur.

Stumbling back until he regained his balance, Keitaro felt a pair of arms and legs wrap themselves around him. Keitaro's arms instinctively held the girl that had just launched herself into him.

One wrapped around her waist, the other went under her legs to keep her in place.

"Heya kiddo."

Looking down, he was met by the beaming smile of his little sister Kanako.

Long glossy waist-length black hair that was tied with a red ribbon mid way down her back, bangs that reached her collarbone on each side of her face. The front ended just above her lavender colored eyes that looked almost pink under the right lighting.

Kanako snuggled her face into her 'daddy's' chest, almost sounding like she was purring as she did so.

"You're finally home." her voiced was muffled by his shirt.

Giving the girl an affectionate squeeze, he kneeled to set her on her own two feet, placing a hand on each of her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"Why didn't you wait for me Kanako-chan?" The anger he'd felt just outside of this room was swept away the second she had latched onto him. His voice now carried more concern than anything else. She knew it was a bad idea to be here without Keitaro there with her.

Her head tilted down so she wouldn't see the 'disappointed daddy' face.

" _He_ took me out of school today." She whispered.

"What? Why?" Keitaro whispered back, feeling the fire being reignited. Not anger directed at Kanako, she would have no say in the matter if the bastard had pulled her out of school.

Shaking his head, Keitaro asked the only question that really mattered.

"When did he take you from school. And did he hurt you at all?"

Kanako remained still and silent, something Kanako only did when there actually _was_ something wrong, and she just didn't want to upset Keitaro by showing him what it was.

Lightly cupping her chin with one hand, Keitaro brought her eyes to meet his. he saw the signs of tears wanting to spill, and it brought a lump to his throat. As serious and high strung as he was at just about every other facet of his life, He had never been able to deny Kanako anything. And the look on her face right now both melted his heart, and brought forth the plan he had been contemplating for a while.

"I….I'm sorry daddy." Kanako's lips trembled as the tears built and slowly fell from her eyes.

Keitaro wrapped his arms around her as her shoulders started to shake. One arm around her waist, and the other stroking her long raven locks. Her head rested in the crook of his neck, wetting the shirt that desperately needed to be changed after his long day.

" I love you Kanako-chan. There is nothing more important to me than you are, and I just want to keep you safe."

Her sobs into his shoulder only built up the resolve to quicken his plan. To take Kanako and leave, get as far away from their _father_ as he could. To give her the life that she deserved.

Once she had calmed down so the sobs were replaced with a sniffle every few seconds, he posed his question.

"Can you show me?" He didn't need to clarify what he was asking her, and she hesitantly nodded.

She was wearing a black dress with sleeves that went to her wrists, and in Keitaro's opinion, it was a little to Goth for someone as peppy as she was.

His heart nearly stopped when she pulled at the neckline and he clearly saw a bruise on her collarbone in the form of a hand from where _he_ must have grabbed, and squeezed.

'That…fucking… _asshole!'_

If Keitaro wasn't worried that Kanako would be placed in a foster home…yet again… He would have put his father 6 feet under a long time ago. As it stood right now though, this being the 4th time he had left a mark on his innocent little sister, Keitaro was having a hard time resisting the urge.

So lost in containing his emotions, Keitaro didn't hear the tell tale sign of a drunk stumbling through the apartment, knocking things over as he went. He didn't see Kanako's eyes stop tearing up and widen as far as her sockets would allow.

"Alright kiddo, here's what we're going to do. You and I are going out for dinner somewhere. After that, pack that suitcase with wheels I bought you, and we're going to leave-"

Keitaro stopped when he finally saw the fear stricken look on her face, an uneasy feeling creeping over him as that could only mean one thing.

"THE FUCK YOU ARE!" A slurred voice called out from directly behind Keitaro.

His head snapped to the left to catch a glimpse of the figure behind him.

 **Smash**

Only for a bottle of gin to be broken over his head, and continue sliding down his face, cutting a line from his left eyebrow down to his jaw, and just barely missing stabbing him in the eye with its jagged edges.

Keitaro was sent to the floor having a hard time seeing straight, his vision darkening by the second, the last thing he saw was the legs of his father unsteadily stomping passed him towards Kanako.

"Run…" Were the only words he managed to get out before everything went black.

 **-LineBreak-**

 _"Draco Dormiens meum" She said softly, running a hand through the brown locks of her son._

 _Her lap held the head of her 12 year old son, his eyes straining to stay open and listen to every word that slipped passed her lips._

 _"What does that mean?"_

 _It was truly a wonder, looking at him._

 _The contrast of how peaceful and kind he was, to the wealth of power pumping through his veins._

 _The term was something she'd only just thought of, but it felt appropriate to describe him._

 _Unprovoked, he was among the kindest and most gentle souls she'd ever seen._

 _But threaten his treasures, which had always been the people he loved..._

 _And no deity, person or force of nature could help you escape his wrath._

 _Something she witnessed at a distance when he was 8._

 _And the reason for the increased pace of learning the family art._

 _A group of local boys, just in their teens, harassing the girl that he'd befriended just the day before._

 _He hadn't so much as hesitated after he saw the tear on her cheek. One of the offending boys was lucky to leave with just bruises. A broken wrist for another. The other two more than likely had concussions._

 _She needed to teach him control._

 _"It means, my sleeping dragon."_

 _"Hmmmm... dragons are cool." The exhaustion was creeping up on him, the training was progressing at an almost scary rate, he'd always been a sponge for information, but had never thought it would cross over to physical knowledge as well._

 _"You ready to meet her tomorrow kei-kun?"_

 _A slow nod into her thigh was his answer, the smile on his face was one of the things she loved most about him._

 _"Yea, my little sister Kanako. I can't wait."_

 _"Starting tomorrow you're going to be a-"_

 **-LineBreak-**

 **"DADDY!"**

Keitaro's eyes snapped open. A throbbing pain shooting though his skull from the Bottle smashed into it an unknown amount of time ago.

His neck felt stiff, his left arm asleep from him laying on it while he was unconscious.

Pushing himself into his hands and knees, Keitaro blinked his double vision away, and tried to take in his surroundings. He shook his left arm, trying to get the pins and needles feeling to go away as he surveyed the damage to his bedroom.

The window was broken, the two futons that were normally pushed together were bunched up in the corner.

The computer monitor on the desk was dangling off the edge by the power cord.

The sliding door to the closet was ripped from its hinges.

All in all, the room was a disaster, and whatever happened while he had been knocked out….It was better if he didn't about it.

'Kanako, gotta find her, and get out of here.' Keitaro thought as he slowly made his way to his feet, a mild dizziness making itself known as he did.

 **thud**

Keitaro heard what sounded like something falling to the floor, either in the bathroom, or in the master Bedroom….

'Oh no…'

 **Slap**

"da*sniff*daddy.." Kanako whimpered, her voice weak and barely audible through the thin walls.

Never since she had come into his life had she sounded so weak, so devoid of hope, and that scared him.

"I'M YOUR DAD! NOT HIM!" **SLAP "** WHEN WILL THAT SINK INTO THAT THICK FUCKING SKULL OF YOURS!"

Even though his legs clearly weren't ready to carry his weight, Keitaro stumbled out of his room and into the hall, only ten feet to the slightly opened door of his fathers bedroom. One that he hardly ever made it to, usually just spending his nights passed out on the couch.

When Keitaro didn't even hear his sister whimper, cry, or hear any movement at all, Keitaro ignored the fact that his body probably should have hardly been able to stand, and sprinted to the door.

Not bothering to slow down and push the door open, Keitaro barreled into it, the door handle smashing into the dry wall leaving a hole.

There was no time to think, no time for emotions, only action.

His eyes caught the sight of his father kneeling over Kanako, both hands wrapped around her neck, his teeth grit in a drunken fury.

Kanako's arms attempting to pry the much stronger ones off of her to no success. Her face was red from the blood not being allowed to flow back down.

Keitaro didn't waste time with words, he just kept running until he was arms length from the two on the floor of the master bedroom.

Using the abilities and training that had been ingrained in him by his mother, Keitaro took his right hand and placed as much force as he could on the tendons of his fathers forearm, weakening his hold around Kanako's neck.

Without thinking much about it, Keitaro used the same amount of force in his left hand, and gave a sharp chop to his fathers trachea.

The inebriated man's grip immediately went limp, from both the force on his arm, and the hit to his throat.

Coughing and struggling to breathe, Mr Urashima was grabbed by the hair and thrown the opposite direction, the back of his head smacking against the frame of the window. He sank down, head faced down and limp, the unexpected force being too much for him to remain awake.

Keitaro, seeing his opponent dealt with, sank down to his knees in front of his sister, his hand carefully moving her hair from her face to look for any injuries.

Her cheeks were tear stained, and the right cheek was bright red, obviously that was the slap he had heard before entering the room.

The initial touch from him made her try and shy away, until the familiar way that he gently pushed her hair aside, and stroked her cheek made Kanako open her eyes.

"Daddy" Her voice was hoarse.

Keitaro's hand stopped and cupped the reddened cheek.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from hurting you Kanako-chan. I promise it won't happen again. Let's get you out of here."

Keitaro picked his sister up, one arm around her shoulders, and the other under her knees.

Not taking any more chances, Keitaro sat her outside of the apartment, in the hallway, across from the staircase going to the main floor.

Grabbing a large duffel bag for himself, and the wheeled suitcase that he had purchased Kanako, Keitaro set himself to grab whatever essentials he could think of, and then a few of her plushy toys.

His most pressing task finished with, the two bags were stuffed to capacity, he flung the strap of his duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder, so the bag was against his lower back.

He grabbed the extending handle to his sisters pink and black suitcase, wheeling it behind to his right as he walked to the kitchen counter to grab an envelope.

Picking it up, he could feel the bulk of cash inside, and was debating wether or not to give it to the landlord. Technically, it was his fathers responsibility to pay the rent, but both he and the manager knew that would never happen.

The responsible adult side of Keitaro won out, not wanting to place an un-needed burden on the man that had been a great help to him the last few years.

Besides, he had been placing a small portion of each check ever since he started working, to either go towards college or for an emergency. Getting Kanako away from this environment was worth the loss of his savings.

As he stepped into the hall, Keitaro knelt down to the tiny girl waiting for him. She gave him a tired smile when she saw her daddy, bags packed and ready to go.

"Ready to go Kana-Chan?" He asked with one hand extended.

Pulling herself up, Kanako gave Keitaro a curious expression and a tilt to her head she asked.

"Where are going daddy?"

"Wherever the next train will take us."

END CHAPTER 1


	2. Shrines, Swords, and a Samurai

CHAPTER 2 - Shrines, Swords, and Samurai's

'I'm really tired of trains…' Keitaro groaned.

The sky had been dark for a while now, and Keitaro was grateful that it was the beginning of summer, so the night air was at least tolerable for both he and Kanako.

He was kept a tad bit warmer because she refused to let him out of her 4-point death hold. Her arms were secured around his neck, her head on his shoulder as she snored lightly, and drooled onto his shirt.

'Love ya to death, but…..ew.'

First chance he got, he had taken a small hand towel out of his bag and placed it where the river of saliva was escaping her mouth, so at least that was taking the brunt of it now.

Her legs were just as secured around his waist, how she managed to keep holding onto him while in a deep sleep, he'd never figure out.

What happened back at his former apartment hadn't kept her in bad spirits for long. As soon as they had boarded the train, she started to ask question after question of what they could go do for fun. Apparently she had made the executive decision of going to the zoo.

He'd been walking for about 15 minutes now since departing the train in Kyoto, a place he'd always wanted to visit, but never had the chance.

The streets were fairly well lit up with the lights of late night establishments and the lights overhead.

The walk to the closest hotel was still another 30 minutes according to the nice middle aged woman that he'd asked as they stepped out of the station. She had looked at him, then to Kanako nuzzling into his shoulder, gave him a quizzical look but thankfully didn't voice her thoughts when Kanako called him daddy in her sleep.

That was a positive turn from pretty much any outing they had at their old home. He'd get scathing looks from anyone around him, clearly associating him with some sort of pedophile. But really, he couldn't care less. They hadn't lived his life.

'I've got just about enough saved up to get us though the next three months pretty comfortably.'

Keitaro wasn't sure if Kyoto was where they were going to stay just yet, but for the next few days at least, it would be a good time to just take Kanako around to see the sights and let her have some fun.

 **-LineBreak-**

The phone ringing broke the usual morning silence that she liked to enjoy before getting her day started with the usual antics of the girls up the hill, and the droning of customers about the most annoying and mundane things.

A woman in her mid 20's walked up the few small steps to her tea shop and to the counter where the annoying antique of a telephone hung on the wall. She'd been thinking about updating it to a newer model, but it would've been an eyesore to Hina and would've just been taken down the moment she turned her eye.

"Hinata Tea house." came her typical drawl from around the cigarette in between her lips.

The voice on the other end was muffled thanks to the old and failing speaker of the receiver pressed to her ear, but having long gotten used to it, Haruka had no issues understanding the voice.

She did raise an eyebrow as the voice introduced themselves as an officer from the Tokyo Police Department, and that her uncle had apparently been sent to the hospital yesterday afternoon, and this was the number listed as the emergency contact.

"What'd he get himself into now?"

The officer only gave the information that he sufficient proof of. And that was a near broken trachea that resulted in a brief time he'd been unable to breathe. A failing liver and kidney from drinking so much so often, and a hairline fracture to the occipital bone on the back of his skull.

A normal person would have had some sort of emotional response to the news of her late aunts husband, but Haruka had never been too fond of him. His smile had always seemed so fake to her, a handy trick that she'd picked up on her travels.

The more important thing for Haruka, after hearing about her uncle being admitted to the hospital, was her cousins.

Keitaro held a place in her heart that was only matched by that of her mother. Not Hina, though she loved the batty old woman too. No, her birth mother Yoko, who had died of the same thing her aunt had a year and a half ago. Apparently ovarian cancer was a plague upon Urashima women.

Haruka had only met Kanako once, at Kasumi's funeral. She liked the girl well enough, but hadn't been able to get a chance to bond with the adopted girl.

"What about the kids?" She asked the officer.

It was at this point in the conversation that Haruka knew something was very _very_ wrong. And her day had just taken a plunge off the deep end.

 _"That's actually the main reason i'm calling Ms. Urashima. There was clear evidence that another male and a young female were living there, but they were nowhere to be found. It looked as if most of their clothes were taken also. The manager of the building said that the young man and girl left a while before any emergency crews made it on scene."_

The officer paused, then released a deep sigh, not liking what we had to say to the family member of two missing people, a young man and little girl.

" _Ms. Urashima, the living conditions of that apartment were not suitable for a child. Even if your uncle weren't in the hospital for the foreseeable future, those living conditions have brought up the topic of his ability to care for his children."_

Haruka could feel her heart beating against her eardrums as the cigarette was being gnawed apart by her teeth.

 _"His custody over his daughter has been pulled. We need to find them."_

Haruka didn't respond, she slammed the phone down on the receiver, stomped over to the door with keys in hand, locked up her shop and made her way up the hill.

"Where are you Kei…"

She could only hope that wherever he was, that he was safe and had everything he needed.

Hina Urashima was about to get one hell of a wake up call.

The large, almost mansion like building of the Hinata-Sou was basked in the morning sunlight as she cleared the top of the steps. Walking up to the front door with her set of keys still in hand, Haruka could hear and feel the presence of Motoko training on the laundry deck as she usually did at this time.

Motoko was almost as adept at feeling the presence of others as Haruka was, only time and experience would bring their skill levels closer together. it was this, that made Motoko stop her training and peer over the railing, watching the rigid and tense way Haruka made her way into the foyer of her home.

To Motoko, Haruka's aura was always solid, a foundation. Nothing ever appeared to rattle the woman, it was a part of her personality that Motoko like the most.

This morning however, the normal blue hue was exchanged for reds and yellows, the colors of anger and uncertainty.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Motoko stopped her training and made her way down the stairs so she could see what today was about to bring them.

Haruka knocked on the door of room 204, the room in which the manager and owner of the Hinata-Sou stayed.

There was a quiet sound of shuffling inside, before the door slide open and revealed Hina Urashima, who was dressed and seemed to have been awake for at least a little while.

"Good morning deary. What brings you up here so early?"

Even as old as she was, Hina Urashima was never one to laze about. She was dressed as usual, the blue kimono, her nearly all white hair into a tight bun on her head, and the endearing smile on her lips.

For most it was a disarming appearance, they would just see a kind old woman enjoying her later years in life.

Haruka knew the woman better than most though, she knew that Hina could feel the wavering in her normally steadfast presence.

"Tai's in the hospital, the courts have revoked his custody of Kanako. Both her and Keitaro are missing, and no one knows where they are. Apparently Kei took her and ran off."

Hina's face fell from her usual carefree smile, down to a down trodden look of regret and pain.

Haruka took in this sight and grew angry.

"You knew didn't you? You knew how bad things were for them, and instead of helping, you just continued on as if everything was alright."

The accusation from her grand daughter stung, but it was well deserved. Hina had, afterall, kept quite a bit to herself these last few years. It seemed that it was time to come clean. Haruka had always asked why the decision was made to change the inn to a girls dorm.

"I don't know everything, but I know enough. I wanted to help, but Tai had made some unsettling friends that stopped me."

The admission brought the guilt to the forefront of her mind. Oh how she wished she could have saved Keitaro from the life that had befallen him. Raising little Kanako since she was a toddler.

"I didn't realize there was anyone that could stand in between us and our _family_." Haruka growled.

Under any normal circumstances, Haruka would have been right, _no one_ could stand between a Urashima and their family. But….this was the exception to that rule, the _only_ in fact.

"The Shuzen's out of Yokohama, made it abundantly clear that Tai wanted us to stay away. If I didn't they would induct both of them into their family….enterprise."

Haruka's rage exploded for the first time since Julia died, and _that idiot_ had the balls to try and court her not even a week afterwards. Her voice bellowed through the halls, and all of the residents caught at least part of what she said.

"ENTERPRISE?! THEY'RE SEX TRAFFICKERS! RAPISTS, PEDOPHILES, SLAVE OWNERS GRANNY! HOW CAN YOU LET YOUR GRANDCHILDREN BE PUT THROUGH THAT?!"

A muffled gasp came from the end of the hall where the stairs led to the third floor. While Haruka missed it, her focus solely on the short old woman in front of her, looking to all the world the very picture of fury incarnate. Hina had caught it, and a moment later, she could feel Motoko's presence where the noise had come from, along with the stirring energies of all the other residents being awoken by her eldest grand daughters outburst.

"I saw them… 3 years ago, Keitaro and Kanako. He was taking her into the city. She calls him 'daddy' you know. That was when the Shuzen's approached me. They said they had already given Keitaro a 'trial run' and were looking forward to fully bringing him and Kanako in if I didn't back away."

Haruka couldn't listen to this anymore if she didn't want to say or do anything she would regret. She put her emotionless mask back on, giving a brief glance towards the 3rd floor staircase, then made her way back towards her tea shop. Maybe…just maybe she would calm down by the end of the time she closed her shop.

'I'm so sorry Kei, if i'd known….' her thought trailed off as she slammed the door to the Hinata-Sou behind her.

 **-LineBreak-**

The zoo had just opened to the public when they arrived, and thankfully the stares weren't as numerous as he'd feared, but there were a few.

But honestly, Keitaro couldn't bring himself to care. Kanako was seated quite happily on top of his shoulders, using him as a horse apparently, tilting his head in the direction she wanted him to go.

If she was happy where she was, then so was he, and he'd say she was happy by the near constant giggling.

"Wah!" Keitaro yelped as his vision was suddenly covered by a curtain of black and in the center were those lavender eyes of his sister.

"What should we see first daddy?" Came her excited question, her heels were lightly kicking into his ribs from being unable to sit still.

Keitaro rubbed his chin and gave an extra long hmmmmmmm to play along with her little game. That game was to make him believe he really had a say in the matter, because if she didn't agree with his decision, she'd just tug on his ears to re-direct him.

"how…..about….. The big cat exhibit, you've always like cats." was his answer. It was a safe choice he thought, because she had been begging him to get her a pet cat for the last year.

"YAY KITTIES!" Kanako yelled happily as she sat up a little too quickly, nearly making Keitaro fall backwards from the shift.

"Haha, be careful not to get to close to the cages. If you taunt them too much, they just might break out and eat you." Keitaro teased as he walked towards the far side of the zoo.

His vision was once more covered by Kanako, where he saw her pouting at him. She looked too adorable with her cheeks puffed out like that.

"that's mean! You wouldn't let them eat me, would you daddy?"

"Well what if they ate me first?"

It was unlikely, given his unique durability and physical skillset, but he supposed anything was possible.

"You're too strong to be eaten by a big Kitty daddy."

A smile came to his face at her confidence in him, it felt like one of the first true ones in over a week.

"Well i'm glad you have such trust in me Kanako-chan."

 **-LineBreak-**

After exploring just about every nook and cranny of the Kyoto Zoo, Keitaro was once again walking with a near comatose Kanako wrapped around him, this time was a lot easier since he wasn't responsible for two sets of luggage.

He was walking down one of the more populated roads of Kyoto, contemplating just calling a cab instead of walking the rest of the way. His verdict was that he would enjoy the silent walk, since it would give him a chance to enjoy all of the shrines that he would pass on the way to their hotel.

The thought of stopping for a quick bite to eat was there also, since he had rejected the idea of buying the insanely expensive and tiny portions of food the zoo had offered.

'hmmm….Maybe there's a ramen stand somewhere around here.'

His mouth watered at the thought of his favorite type of food establishments. His coworkers never understood his like for it. But hey, he was a simple man with simple tastes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Keitaro spotted just what he was looking for. A small ramen stand with four chairs set up at the counter. Perfect.

Walking over to it quickly, Keitaro ordered one that was a little extra spicy for himself, and one for Kanako to enjoy once she decided she was hungry, which should be as soon as he started eating his if history was anything to go by.

The man who ran the stand was doing his best to hide the fact that he found Keitaro's situation humorous. He was trying to reach into the pocket on the side where Kanako had nuzzled herself into to reach his wallet. Luckily he managed to do so without dropping his wallet, or his sister, grabbed his food and went on his way.

His walk back let his mind wander to the coming days, and how he was going to handle them.

'Gotta return to work after tomorrow, I know they won't mind Kanako tagging along for a day or two, but after that I need to find a safe place for her while I'm away.'

Since it was the start of her summer break, and with his departure from his Tokyo apartment, Keitaro needed to figure this out rather quickly since he'd left the area of his usual baby-sitters. He couldn't leave her alone. She hated being alone.

Keitaro's thoughts pulled away from there as he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. The presence of a martial artist, not one who knew the more generic ones of today, but one who used the more ancient teachings. Using their own spiritual energy.

it was in the direction he was heading, so he decided to sate his curiosity and try to catch a glimpse of whoever it was, they'd probably feel him coming a mile away anyways since his detecting abilities had lapsed since his mother had gotten sick.

So for him to feel this person, they had to be pretty damn powerful, probably had a near mastery of their craft.

Approaching someone of that skill level was generally ill advised, since martial artists that strong tended to be rather high strung and a bit paranoid in public for fear of attack. Not that they couldn't handle themselves, but some idiot might just try and challenge them out in the open and place innocents at risk. But this one felt….pleasant. It reminded him of how his mother had described how his own energy felt to her.

It was like the ocean when the surface was calm, the waters could gently pull you in one direction or another, yet underneath there was a current that deadly.

The presence felt like it was about two blocks ahead of him, and wasn't moving at the moment, so there was a chance that Keitaro could catch up.

'It feels like they're rather young to be that strong….great…maybe this isn't such good idea.' Keitaro thought once he closed half the distance.

Young and strong usually meant arrogant beyond belief. Not the type of person Keitaro like to deal with, so he decided to just catch a small look and be done with it, no getting too close to this person who might want to look for a fight.

He took a left turn at the next intersection, to where both his hotel and mystery person were straight ahead of him. It was hard to tell who it was he was looking for, since there was a fair sized crowd.

His stride elongated to keep Kanako in place, while also gaining on his query.

Most of the crowd stopped to wait for the next crosswalk, while two turned left. Keitaro felt the energy move along with those two.

A loud **POP** echoed off the buildings lining the streets, followed a screech of metal scraping against pavement.

Keitaro rounded the corner, the sound was louder now. Of the two people in front of him, it was easy to tell who he had been looking for.

One was a male in a business suit, his back hunched forward and head low, that was not the stance of an accomplished martial artist. The other one however….

It was a tall woman with raven black hair that reached her hips and flowed freely. She wore an indigo colored kimono that, even from his distance behind her, gave off both the air of a traditional beauty. If by looks or feel weren't able to solidify that this woman was the one Keitaro felt, the long slim bag over her shoulder that was clearly for a sword told him he'd found the right person.

 **HONK**

The metal against pavement sound was accompanied by the loud horn of a large truck as it came over the hill only a hundred feet ahead of Keitaro, and less than half that for the female martial artist and business man in front of him.

The man snapped his head up, and saw the out of control delivery truck and quickly ran into the alley between two buildings to protect himself.

The woman didn't seem to notice it, as her steps didn't change pace or direction.

The truck was swerving between the sidewalk and the edge of the road, sparks flying from where the driver side front tire had once been.

With no time to put Kanako down in a safe place, Keitaro pulled as much of his spiritual strength into his body as he could in a mere instant, encasing Kanako with most of it to protect her from what would otherwise be a deadly amount of force.

The energy flowed to Keitaro's legs, giving him the extra speed needed to get in front of the woman in time. He pushed forward with as much force he could, and to the normal human eye, almost seemed to vanish.

 **HONK**

The truck blared its horn again is Keitaro reached the woman, who finally seemed to snap out of her stupor, as her eyes immediately went towards Keitaro and not the oncoming vehicle that was about to kill her.

Turning his body sideways, Keitaro planted his feet, reached his free arm forward and readied himself with a mental command.

'ANCHOR'

Keitaro felt the shift of energy through his body, the flow staring at his fingertips and directing it to the ground beneath him to spread the force he was about to take.

His process luckily completed as the vehicle was less then 2 seconds away from running him over, Keitaro leaned forward, preparing his arm and legs.

 **SMASH**

The truck came into contact with Keitaro's outstretched arm. His hand was nearly engulfed as the metal caved, making a T shape dent on the front end. The truck came to an immediate halt, the back wheels lifting a foot off the ground from the change in momentum. The airbags in the cab deployed and the windows on each side shattered, spreading glass over the sidewalk and street.

Keitaro glanced just behind him to see the woman eyes wide with disbelief at how she had been caught off guard and almost killed.

As the vehicle settled, Keitaro relaxed his legs and arms, knowing that his limbs would be sore in the morning. he'd never done anything that strenuous without a proper warm-up.

By some sort of miracle, Kanako was still asleep and wrapped around him, oblivious to the goings on around her.

'Kid can sleep through anything.' He thought with a small chuckle.

other than a breeze from the impact, there hadn't been a scratch on him or the woman behind him.

"You alright miss?" Keitaro asked the mystery woman.

If he hadn't been sure before, he was absolutely positive that this woman was brought up in an upper class martial artist family.

Her face was symmetrical to an almost frightening degree, her skin was pale without a blemish to be seen.

her eyes were a captivating grayish green stood out with her raven black bangs just above her eyebrows.

Keitaro was not one to typically appraise any females appearance. But he was absolutely certain that this was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. More so than some of the actresses he'd met though work.

Her eyes were locked onto his, and finally her mouth moved to speak.

 **-LineBreak-**

Haruka Urashima lit up the last cigarette of her second pack of the day. When no customers had come into her tea shop for the first two hours it had been open, she decided to get things done herself.

She locked up her tea shop and made her way to see Tai Urashima, who was quickly becoming one of her least favorite people in the world.

Arriving at the hospital, she had been shown to his room, and had a hard time relating the person she knew with the sack of flesh before her.

Wild unkempt hair, unshaven, jaundiced skin, one hell of a beer gut. The man that had married her aunt had really gone down the drain.

The doctor she spoke to said that there was no way to tell when or if he would ever wake up. Apparently the damage to his skull had caused some internal bleeding, they were doing what they could to deal with the swelling, but with the damage to his other organs his body wouldn't be able to properly filter his blood, and therefore the medications needed would be too dangerous.

She only told the doctor to call her if he woke up or died as he gave the number to her shop and walked out to her next destination.

After a quick cab ride, Haruka arrived at the apartment building that the officer had been nice enough to give her the location of. She was hoping that she could glean some clues from either the manager or the apartment itself as to where her missing cousins had gone.

After seeing her _uncle,_ Haruka wasn't all that surprised by the building she found herself in front of. Old, run down, in an out of the spotlight part of town. Definitely a place that someone trying to hide, or was down on their luck would be living at.

The manager spotted her as she walked through the door, and had immediately made her for a relative of Keitaro's. But to her surprise, it wasn't based on anything that genetics would have determined.

 _"You have the same look in your eyes. One that says, mess with me or my family, expect to lose a limb."_ He'd said.

Haruka really should've expected something like that, given that for the last 5 or 6 years, he had to be the adult. That thought made her a little nauseous, a 14 year old boy…suddenly being forced to provide for himself and two others. And she'd been none the wiser, expecting that Granny Hina was keeping an eye on them.

The surprise of her day so far, had been to learn what Keitaro did to bring in money. He had apparently started working for a production company building their sets, and as of the last 8 months had been made a foreman, in control of who did what and when.

'So why live in such a dump then Kei?' She thought.

A job like that should have been enough to move somewhere nicer…..unless….

'That's it isn't it? You were planning on taking off with Kanako at some point anyway. Probably had enough money to keep you afloat for a month minimum.'

She walked up to the apartment the three had been living in, found the door unlocked and let herself in. Only she really wish she hadn't.

The smell was horrid. She could smell remnants of excretions from every bodily orifice. Shit, piss, vomit. All present.

The kitchen to be where the smell was the strongest, so she determined that was going to be the last place she looked, the further away from that stench the better.

Living room yielded nothing. No personal items other than a stuffed plushy of a black cat that had seen better days, the stuffing was starting to come through some of the seams.

She walked into what she thought was the master bedroom at the end of the hall. Other than numerous bottles of alcohol laying about, and remnants of food on the bed sheets and floor, there was nothing in there at all. Most of the personal items had probably been pawned off already.

The other bedroom was her second to last stop.

It was immediately clear to her just how close Keitaro and Kanako were. She thought it strange when Hina said that the girl referred to him as her father, but seeing the room it made more sense.

There were two futons close together near one of the walls.

The closet had two small three drawer dressers, both of which were practically empty.

The walls were her tell-tale sign.

Crudely drawn crayon pictures lined the walls. Two stick figure people, one tall with brown hair, the other with long black hair.

One of them at a park, one on a beach, at an amusement park.

On none of the pictures were there any other figures… it was always just the two of them.

One caught her eye, because it was framed.

it wasn't any better than the others, but it obviously held some significance.

The figure of Kanako was waving a flag in each hand. While the figure of Keitaro had a robe and a squared hat on, and holding something….maybe a piece of paper.

Haruka felt a grim smile come over her. Emotions well buried trying their damn hardest to get the better of her as she saw the other frame hanging on the wall.

'You were always a smart kid Kei.'

In that other frame was a diploma, Keitaro had gotten his Highschool equivalence. She recognized the school it was said to have come from, they only offered an accelerated program, so not only had he been working to give himself and Kanako a place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear. He was also working towards a better future.

She took it off the wall and noticed it was dated this past winter. She would have liked to go to that graduation.

Steeling herself for the smells to come, Haruka made her way to the kitchen, since nothing in her cousins room gave her any clue as to where they had gone.

All it took was a brief look over the counter to tell her that she wouldn't find anything here, so she left.

And having no other clues to go by, had to return home, feeling a knot in her stomach forming from a day wasted.

Haruka was sure of two things. As long as Keitaro kept out of the Shuzens reach, he and Kanako would be just fine. The other was that she knew she would eventually find him, and make things right for not checking up on him herself.

 **-LineBreak-**

Meeting the mysterious Martial artist had not been what Keitaro had been expecting.

Arrogant, pompous, uppity, stiff-necked, call it however you will, but for Keitaro, that had been his experience with people with the amount of strength and grace that Tsuruko Aoyama had.

And yet she seemed to be none of these things. Sure she was a little too formal for his taste, but that was hardly a bad mark against her. He just preferred a more laid back atmosphere, something he developed as being a part of the "blue collar" work force.

Once she snapped out of her almost catatonic state, Tsuruko had quickly realized what he had done. And once the sirens of emergency crews started echoing closer and closer, she saw the nervous look on Keitaro's face and determined that for whatever reason, he did _not_ want to be involved with the police at this moment.

She'd grabbed his hand and dragged him for more than 12 blocks before slowing down.

After a brief set of introductions, she'd all but demanded, politely, that she buy him and Kanako dinner, as the start to thank him for saving her life. He'd tried to refuse, saying that it was the right thing to do, but she'd played the honor bound martial artist card, and if he didn't accept her honor would be forever lost until amends were made with him.

They agreed to meet at 7, which was in 3 hours, at a restaurant that was a few blocks from the hotel he was staying at. They'd parted ways at that point, and Keitaro carried a now awake, but unwilling to walk Kanako to the hotel to get ready.

A quick bath and redressing later, they were waiting for their dinner guest at the designated spot, which was the entrance to a shrine that Keitaro hadn't noticed as they walked through the area after initially walking by on their to get the room in the hotel.

Keitaro looked up at steps that led to the shrine, the gate was a bright red, clearly newly painted. He wished they had the time to go and visit the shrine, but they could always do it tomorrow, after whatever it was that Kanako wanted to do.

He and Kanako had dressed in the best clothes that they owned, which wasn't really saying much.

He was a pair of black dress pants and a white button down shirt with a black tie with worn down black dress shoes. It was what he'd bought for his interview for his current job, and other than the shoes, which were taken from his father, had never been worn again.

He had purchased a nice lavender dress that reached her mid calf, it was the outfit she wore to his graduation that she demanded he allow her to be present for, and once again…What Kanako wants, Kanako gets. He was fortunate that her school made her wear somewhat nice shoes, so at least she wouldn't look out place, because he would never hear the end of that.

Kanako had been tugging on his hand, which she held tightly, and complaining that she was _really_ hungry, and how much longer until they ate.

"Daaaaaaddddy!" She whined, puppy dog eyes in place and ready to be weaponized if he even glanced at her, and an arm resting against her stomach.

"I know sweetie, I know. It's 6:59 right now, she should be here any moment." he answered with a glance to his watch, knowing full well the face she was making at him right now.

'Wait a minute…. _sweetie?'_ Keitaro's face froze on his watch.

Never….ever, had he called Kanako any sort of pet name, other than kiddo. He had tried his absolute hardest to ignore the fact that she thought of him as her father. But apparently she had been wearing him down into accepting the way she perceived their relationship.

A shiny black sedan started slowing down as it progressed down the street and closer to the two of them.

'It'd be fine if _i'd_ adopted her, then at least I wouldn't have to worry what'll happen if…..'

Keitaro's heart leapt into his throat, and he squashed down his current train of thought. Best not to worry about it at the moment anyway, getting her fed was his current objective.

The sedan stopped at the curb in front of them, the headlights turning off as it parked. The driver door opened to reveal a woman dressed in a black skirt, white shirt with a white vest over it.

She opened the back door for her charge to exit with a hand for assistance.

Tsuruko stepped out of the car, looking like she should be walking the red carpet and not just going to dinner with a set of strangers.

Her long silky raven hair was in a pony tail with a red ribbon, her face had a light application of make-up that wasn't needed given her natural features, but the light eye shadow did help accentuate her eyes all the more. The red lipstick making her lips seem fuller and more alluring.

A black sheer wrap was draped over her shoulders, which led to the crimson evening gown that hugged her figure to show that she could compete with the best models around the world.

Both Keitaro and Kanako couldn't but stare at her. She was the most beautiful thing either of them had ever seen. She saw their looks and gave an amused smile, raising a hand to cover a giggle.

"I take it I look okay?" The glint in her eyes said that she knew just how good she looked.

Keitaro gave a nod.

"I hope i'm not underdressed for wherever it is we're going." If she was dressed to the nines, Kanako could get away with it, she was a child and subject to whatever was purchased for her, so he would be blamed.

Keitaro would get dirty looks from the staff if it was some sort of ritzy place, but he didn't really care what people thought of him in the first place, so he could live with that.

"You're soooooooo pretty!" Keitaro's eyes almost bulged out of his sockets. This was the first time that Kanako had ever spoken to someone she'd just met without her voice being barely above a whisper, or shying behind his leg.

She looked at him, and he could swear he saw the starts hammering in her eyes.

"Right daddy? Isn't she super pretty?" Keitaro cringed, ready to see the accusing look on her face, naming him a pedophile.

"Yes, yes she is."

He was surprised to see that, the only change in her face was a slight raise of her brow. She masked it fairly quickly, apparently deciding that it wasn't worth trying to pry at this moment.

"Shall we go then?" Tsuruko asked with a smile.

Kanako nodded her head enthusiastically as she rubbed her stomach.

"lead the way Aoyama-san. And thank you in advance for buying us dinner, that's very kind of you." Keitaro answered.

To Keitaro's immense surprise, instead of just walking a step or two ahead of them, she latched onto Keitaro's right arm, while Kanako held his left.

And so, looking very much a strange family, they made their way to the restaurant.

 **-LineBreak-**

Haruka walked into the foyer of the Hinata-Sou with only the frame of Keitaro's diploma. She had taken a minute to school her features to be what the other residents had come to expect from her.

There was no way she wanted Kitsune to be poking her nose in this particular business of hers. Even if it likely useless as she had been yelling just outside of her door that morning, but it was nice to hope that she'd just let this one be.

The TV was on, and based on what she saw, Kitsune along with Naru and Su were seated in the living room. Kitsune watching the horse races as she usually was. Naru undoubtedly had her face in a book, studying for a cram school test to prepare her to get into Todai. By the feet dangling in the air, Su must have been under the coffee table creating or refining some sort of weapon of mass destruction.

Without so much as a word, Haruka kicked her shoes off and started to make her way inside. Unfortunately, Shinobu and Motoko had chosen that moment to walk in from the kitchen and were close enough to see what was in her hands.

"Good evening Haruka-san, how was your day?" Shinobu, the sweet chef of the house gave a smile and bow.

Motoko reciprocated the bow, without the greeting, instead more interested in the item in her grasp.

"Highschool Equivalance diploma, why do you have a "Keitaro Urashima's" GED?"

And thus started one of the most infuriating events Haruka had ever experienced, even if it was short lived.

"Diploma? What's that, is it tasty?" Su asked as her head popped up from her spot on the floor.

"I do not think paper would taste good Su-chan." Motoko answered evenly. For some reason her hand was shifting towards the hilt of the sword on her hip. An action usually only generated when a male was in her presence.

"High school _equivalence?_ What kind of an idiot do you have to be to fail high school? Probably too busy being a perverted creep and chasing skirts." Naru reprimanded the unknown male without even looking up from her book.

Kitsune saw the way Haruka's jaw tightened, her hold on the frame almost breaking it, her eyes boring into the back of Naru's head. Usually, Kitsune was all for stirring a little chaos.

But seeing Haruka on the verge of what looked like an explosive rage, decided to bow this one out. If Naru said anything else, she would do her best to shut her best friend up, but the auburn haired girl had a stubborn streak a hundred miles long.

The others saw the look on the tea shop owners face as well, and promptly took a few steps back. In Shinobu's case, she darted back into the kitchen to find something to busy herself with until the storm blew over.

"Naru Narusegawa." The use of her full name, no honorifics, and the slow, grit-your-teeth tone made Naru finally look up to Haruka.

She caught sight of Haruka's eyes first, it looked like Haruka was wishing death upon her. The tight jaw, flexing of her free hand and shift in her posture made Naru nervous. Haruka had _never_ done anything more than roll her eyes at anyone at the Hinata if she disagreed with something they said.

Taking a breath before she dismembered the college prep student, Haruka reworked what she _wanted_ to say.

"I'd advise you not to make judgements on someone you've never met. You haven't lived their life. Not everyone has the luxury of relying on their parents for everything they need."

With her piece said, Haruka made her way up the stairs, while the girls stared at her back with a sense of relief that no blood had been shed.

 **knock knock**

"Come in Haru-chan."

Haruka slid the door open to Granny Hina's room. closing and locking it before walking over to the desk where the older woman was looking over the books of the dorms finances.

Haruka placed the framed diploma on top of the book, and stood there waiting.

Hina picked it up, leaning towards the lamp to get a better look.

"I've told you….countless times… _not_ to call me that." Haruka growled at the old woman.

Hina's only response was to start laughing uncontrollably. Haruka raised a brow at her grandmother, unsure if the laughter from her displeasure at that nickname, or what she was looking at.

When the laughter got quieter, Haruka got her answer when Hina wiped at her eyes. Haruka kept silent as silent sobs wracked Hina's body, the guilt that Haruka felt as she walked through that apartment was obviously shared. But while Haruka felt guilty for not intervening in Keitaro and Kanako's life earlier, before things had gotten as bad as they appeared to be, Hina had said on multiple occasions that she was doing just that. Only when it was beyond apparent that things were not well, had Hina tried to step in, and was hard balled into a corner that she couldn't maneuver around.

Haruka didn't feel like being stuck in here for an hour before Hina calmed down. While her and Hina shared a similar trait of hiding their emotions behind something else, their respective tactics were polar opposite. HIna's mask had fallen off.

"One visit….That's all it would have taken.." Hina croaked.

Haruka nodded, knowing through whatever means she had, that Hina knew she made it. She grew concerned for the old woman sanity once she started laughing again. The chuckles were not of a merry sort, but like that of hindsight proving once more that it was 20/20.

"If i hadn't stopped that marriage meeting with the Aoyama's, and they'd gone through with it….I know he and Tsu-chan would have been great together. If it had happened, I would have watched over Kanako like I should have since Kasumi's death."

Haruka felt actual surprise at that admission, she hadn't known there were talks of trying to set up Keitaro with her friend Tsuruko. And she doubted anyone other than Hina and the Aoyama Matriarch knew anything about it either. That was how they liked to do things, verbal only unless otherwise required. It left no paper trail, and more chances to prank people.

Even as a small jealous spike stabbed through her, Haruka knew that Keitaro would have been enamored with Tsuruko from the first glance. The only thing she doubted, was whether Keitaro would have been able to actually talk to her. Haruka was the only female he'd been able to talk to without reservation ever since he was 6 outside of his mother.

"Don't hold onto the past Granny. They need our help, and once I find him… I think it's time to declare his title."

Hina looked up to her grand daughter through teary eyes, wondering just how she knew what her plan had been. She'd never shared with anyone, not even Yoko, who'd been the closest of her daughters.

"You're right. It's him…it's always been Keitaro."

"But there's something else that needs taking care of first….Kanako's guardian."

 **-LineBreak-**

Ritzy….didn't begin to describe the place that Tsuruko had taken him and Kanako.

Dim lighting, soft jazz music by a live band. The menu's had no prices listed on the food, basically telling Keitaro that his life savings could have been blown on this one meal.

The tables were covered with a layer of what _felt_ like silk, brought was probably vastly more expensive. The waiter was informative, timely, and polite. This was a restaurant that catered to the elite….And Keitaro was not the type of person who was used to such service. Thankfully they were seated in a secluded corner where almost no one could see how under dressed Keitaro was.

If there was one hitch during the evening, it was when the waiter had brought drinks.

A glass of ice water for Kanako, iced tea for Keitaro. And an expensive bottle of Cabernet for Tsuruko.

He really should have expected it, but Keitaro hadn't.

After her first sip of the red alcoholic liquid, Kanako had apparently caught a sniff of it, and immediately went rigid in her seat. Her face paled, and her hand sought out Keitaro's from instinct alone.

Tsuruko caught the change, and leaned in to see what the cause of the problem was, only trying to be helpful. But Kanako had bolted to the bathroom, which she had just returned from moments ago.

There was a look of confusion on Tsuruko's face, she could sense that something was wrong, and she was a part of it…but for the life of her, didn't know what she did to make the hyper girl flip a switch like that.

Keitaro gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Wasn't your fault. It was mine, I apologize for the lack of foresight. I'll be back in a moment." Keitaro gave her a deep bow as he walked towards the women bathroom.

On his way, he caught sight of a waitress that had just started loosening a part of her uniform, clearly about to head home. A perfect candidate to help him out without disturbing other customers.

"Excuse me miss. I need your help." He requested.

The woman turned to him, the brief irritation was there and gone so quickly that most people would've written it off as a part of their imagination.

"How may I help you Sir?"

"My sister ran into the bathroom, I need you to go in there with me so I can calm her down and bring her back out please."

The way her eyes widened suggested that him going into the female restroom was paramount to treason or something.

"Please miss. I'm the only person she trusts, if I could ask anyone else, I wouldn't even think of going in there…..I'm very accustomed to how this looks. I'll go in there on my own if I have to, but i'd rather not be accused of being a peeping tom tonight."

The waitress bit her thumb nail for a moment, considering it. She glanced from the restroom door, and back to him. She wasn't sure if it was the way he seemed so genuine with the fact that this wasn't the first time he'd had to do this, or the ease with which he said it, but she agreed.

After she checked, she told him that only the stall in the back was occupied, which was exactly where he'd expected her to be.

He and the waitress walked into the bathroom, Keitaro held a hand to have her wait near the door, to which she nodded and leaned against the wall next to the door.

"Kanako-chan, can you open up for me please?"

Keitaro knelt in front of the stall, knowing that either one of two things would happen.

Kanako would either ignore his request a few more times, until nearly knocking him over as she ran into his arms.

or

2) She would immediately open the door and nearly knock him over by running into his arms.

It would depend on whether she thought keitaro was upset by her actions or not.

So it was better to be closer to the ground in case he did fall back.

The stall door flung open and Kanako stood there, not rushing into his arms as she usually did. Her lavender eyes locked onto his, and instead of scared, she looked looked like she was upset at her actions.

Keitaro reached out and grabbed each of her hands with his, and lightly guided her out and into a hug which she tightly returned.

"I'm sorry daddy." Kanako's voice was muffled as she rubbed her face into his shirt.

He stroked her hair to soothe her.

"I know honey, it's okay."

'Sweetie? Honey? Kanako what are you doing to me…I'm your brother, not your father.'

Keitaro would have to ponder the state of their relationship later, he had an important but brief talk he needed to have with Kanako.

"Kana-chan, did you run in here because of what she was drinking?"

Said girl nodded meekly.

Keitaro couldn't blame her for her reaction, one of the only adults she had regular contact with always had some sort of alcohol on his breath, so her association was basically…. Alcohol = bad person.

Keitaro made Kanako take a step back so they could make eye contact, and Kanako's hands grabbed onto to his to make up for the lack of touch.

"Kanako-chan, I understand why you were frightened. But we're not there with him anymore." Keitaro paused as he thought of a way to associate having wine with dinner to something she would understand.

"You like having a glass of milk when I make you cookies right?" His sister nodded, a small smile appearing as she thought about her favorite treat.

"Having some wine with dinner, like Aoyama-san is tonight, is a lot like having milk with cookies. For some people it makes it even more delicious. Does that makes sense to you Kanako-chan?"

He could see the gears turning in her head, trying to connect the dots, but wasn't quite getting it.

"How about this then…. Your stomach hurts if you have too much candy right? Like what happened last halloween."

Kanako pouted at being reminded of how she hadn't listened to her daddy, and had the worst tummy ache of her young life. But she nodded that was following what he was saying.

"Too much alcohol for an adult is kind of like that. Most people learn their lesson after having too much once or twice, not everyone, but most. Some adults don't learn their lesson, and are like the kids that keep eating too much candy."

Keitaro felt confident that he had been able to sufficiently explain things, and bring at least a little bit of understanding to Kanako. She agreed to apologize for running off from the table, and wouldn't do it again, and that was enough for him.

He thanked the waitress that was patiently waiting by the door as they walked by, ignoring the adoring look she was giving him for his display with Kanako.

"I think my ovaries just exploded…" The waitress whispered to herself as she was left alone in the restroom.

Keitaro watched as Kanako walked over to a still confused, and slightly concerned Tsuruko.

"I'm sorry I got scared and ran away." Kanako said with a polite bow, doing it as her daddy had taught her.

Tsuruko waved it off, her smile returning upon seeing that things could proceed smoothly.

"Think nothing of it Kanako-chan. Let's order dinner shall we?"

END CHAPTER 2


	3. The New Handyman

CHAPTER 3 - Terms of service

One day at a time, was one of those stupid cliches that Keitaro had taken to heart. That, and plan for the worst, hope for the best.

He had done just that, taking the days one step at a time, trying to enjoy the little things as they happened.

But also to prepare for shit to hit the fan at any moment.

So putting away a small amount of cash from his paychecks seemed like a good, if necessary idea.

If he hadn't don't that, he honestly had no idea what sort of state his head would be in at the moment.

"I'm sorry to do this to you Keitaro-san, but you know how HR holds everyone to the same standards, on screen talent or behind the scenes guys doesn't matter." Even through the phone, Keitaro could tell his boss didn't like the decision any more than he himself did.

"Yea…. but…. _kidnapping?_ Seriously?" How had things turned against him like this? He was just trying to do the right thing. And apparently, someone had decided that keeping a little 8 year old girl away from an abusive drunk was considered kidnapping, the fact that he was the one to take care of her didn't seem to matter.

"I know, it's fucked up. I've already pushed the paperwork for you to get the next paycheck. You've built up quite a stock of vacation and sick time that you'll get at your foreman wage also. The direct deposit should go through sometime tomorrow. I hope this helps. And if you need a good reference, just give me a call."

The click and dial tone hung in his ears, as he just stood there in disbelief.

' fired, just like that. '

Keitaro was starting to wonder if he had been a loose cannon with homicidal tendencies in a past life, because this just wasn't fair.

Keitaro heard the bathroom door open, the padding of Kanako's tiny feet on the floor behind him as she came out from finishing her bath.

He heard the creak of her weight on the bed as she hopped to sit on it.

He took a deep breath and put on a happy face. At least he had a plan for today that could help keep his mind off of his employment status. Outside of getting his newer wage for all of his paid time off, there was only one good thing to come from that phone call.

 _"Some woman came by looking for you, said that your father was in the hospital, and might not wake up. I know we only talked about it a little, but I figured you'd want to know."_

Keitaro felt a small bit of satisfaction at that. His father had never been a physically adept person, more of your typical business man than anything else. The man had owned a bakery, but only handled the finances, while his mother did almost all of the actual baking.

"Daddy, when are we leaving?" Keitaro turned around, looking at Kanako pulling on white socks up to her mid calf.

He had to look away as the way she was lifting her leg up, was lifting the white skirt to show her underwear to anyone who might be standing in the direction that Keitaro was.

"we're meeting downstairs in 20 minutes. Did you brush your teeth?"

"Uh huh, See!" Kanako gave him a wide smile to show off her pearly whites.

"I brushed my teeth, washed my hair and body real good, and I have clean underwear!"

'Yea….I saw….'

"Good. You've forgotten one thing though."

"I did?" Kanako asked with a tilt to her head, getting a nod from Keitaro.

"Uuuummmmmmm…"

*gasp*

Kanako jumped up onto the bed before springing into the air, where Keitaro snatched her out of the air. her arms latched around his neck as she hugged him with all the strength her tiny tiny body could muster.

"I'm sorry Daddy! I forgot your morning hug!"

Keitaro chuckled as he set her down. It was the first time she had forgotten about the morning ritual that she had started. At first when she started doing it, she would jump on him while he was still asleep. Having the air knocked from your lungs was not a nice wake up call.

But over time, he'd come to expect it, and even enjoy her small signs of affection.

Keitaro dropped to his knees dramatically throwing his hands skyward.

"Oh Kishibojin! My little Kanako has forgotten me! How will I live on?!"

He made an exaggerated movement, cupping one ear up towards the ceiling, as if he was listening to someone whispering in his ear.

"It shall be done my Goddess." Keitaro faced Kanako, and an faux evil smirk crossed his face.

"For your sins Kanako, the Goddess demands you must be punished!" Keitaro placed his hands on her shoulders, and Kanako looked truly scared.

"Your sentence has been sent from the heavenly plains of Takamagahara. Death by Tickling!"

His hands darted to her ribs, and his fingers glided over them.

Kanako immediately fell to the floor, trying to roll away.

"Ahahaha, stop it daddy, ahahahehehe! I give I give! I'll never forget your hug again I promise!"

Keitaro stood from his knees as Kanako panted, trying to recover her breath. He pulled her up to her feet, making sure she was steady enough to stand on her own before letting go.

"Now I forgive you. Let's head down stairs so I can give them our laundry."

 **-LineBreak-**

"Things sure have taken a strange turn around here huh?" Naru Narusegawa broke the silence in the hot springs with an attempt of some sort of conversation.

None of the residents really understood what was going on with Hina and Haruka, but it was clear that it wasn't pleasant.

The water was fairly still since Su hadn't made her appearance yet that morning.

Naru, Motoko, Kitsune and Shinobu sat in the water relaxing against the rocks.

Breakfast had been different today, Hina, Haruka and Su had whisked themselves away with their plates almost as fast as Shinobu had been able to set them down.

While Su had started spouting technical jargon that no one but her understood, they all took it to mean that she was just off tinkering with an invention of hers.

Hina and Haruka on the other hand hadn't said anything other than they had some business to attend to in the managers room.

"Whadda ya think that was all 'bout yesterday?" Kitsune drawled, the waters steadily easing away her hangover.

Motoko looked over to where the sword her sister had given her lay, going over what she had heard yesterday, both before Haruka had stormed out, and when she had returned.

She hadn't caught everything that was said, but she'd heard enough. It was causing a mild amount of conflicting emotions.

A part of her thought that maybe her thoughts were due to the change in the air around the dorm over the last 24 hours.

Hina had shared the stories of how the Hinata-Sou was supposed to be a magical place, sitting on a ley line. And the way the building felt now…she was inclined to believe that there was at least some truth to that.

Because it felt as though the dorm was calling out to someone, wanting to bring this person in and comfort them. Either that, or Motoko was sensing the combination of Hina and Haruka's auras.

"What ever the source may be. It was made very clear that any outside input or help was not welcomed." Motoko answered Kitsune.

Naru proved once again, that her stubbornness knew no bounds, as she slapped a hand onto the water, startling Shinobu.

"I don't like it! If its something that effects our home, we have the right to know."

Recovering from the outburst, Shinobu meekly voiced her own opinion.

"I don't know Naru-senpai. Haruka-san was really mad with what you said yesterday, maybe it's better if we don't pry."

Kitsune lifted her head from the rocks, slightly opening one eye to peer at her best friend.

" Ah gotta agree with Shinobu hun. Normally ah'm all for a little pryin and spyin, but not if it's Granny Hina or Haruka we're up against. Don't bite the hand that feeds an all that."

Naru gave Kitsune a glare, and opened her mouth to make a retort.

Just before she could however, the door slid open to reveal both Haruka and Hina with their respective towels, a naked Su clinging onto Haruka's back.

The resident girls all went silent as the two Urashima's waded through the waters to get into a comfortable spot.

As Haruka kneeled down, Su detached herself and started splashing around.

Hina sat next to Naru calmly, closing her eyes as she indulged in her favorite pastime.

Motoko noticed how Hina and Haruka seemed to be closer to their usual selves. The steady flow of Haruka's aura had returned from the turbulence of yesterday. Hina was back to being as unreadable as ever.

Whatever had plagued them must have resolved itself she figured. Which was a good thing, because the atmosphere was starting to be worrisome. A woman as aged as Hina should not be put through undue stress.

Kitsune was not able to read the same signs as Motoko, but she was able to pick up on the more relaxed postures.

As Su swam around the shallow end, Hina took a deep breath before addressing her girls.

"Girls, I think it's about time I start planning that vacation I worked on with my daughter Yoko."

 **-LineBreak-**

Keitaro watched as Kanako ran around with three other kids, they were the kids of the shrines maidens. The smile on her face was as radiant as he'd ever seen it. At the moment, she didn't seem like a girl who'd been close to being sold into child prostitution, or almost being strangled not too long ago. Just a normal 8 year old girl.

This was the third shrine Tsuruko had led them to, and Keitaro was pleasantly surprised that she had enjoyed each one so far, taking in the sights with wonder and amazement as only a child could.

"She has a lot of stamina for a girl of her stature." Tsuruko said from beside him.

Keitaro could only smile and chuckle.

"You have no idea. I managed to get a free day pass to Disneyland in Tokyo last year, she ran me around the park three times before she even looked winded."

Tsuruko glanced over to the small girl with a smile, and stifled a giggle as she pictured the scene he had described. It was fairly easy for her, seeing as she wanted to make physical contact with Keitaro as much as possible, whether it be holding his hand, sleeve, or on his shoulders.

While Kanako was off playing with the other kids, giving her and Keitaro a breather from her endless energy, Tsuruko wanted to give voice to something she'd noticed since they met up that morning.

"Keitaro-san."

he hmm'ed as he turned to give the woman his attention.

"I hope that you do not think less of me for asking. But I noticed the waver in your aura since this morning. You do not appear to be someone who concerns himself with trivial matters. Is there anything I can do to help? You did save my life afterall."

She watched as Keitaro turned his attention back to Kanako, who was currently 'It' in their game of tag. He took a deep slow breath through his nose and let it ease itself out before he spoke quietly.

" I got fired this morning." His candid admission surprised her. She had gathered that he preferred to get straight to the point.

She didn't know very much about the two she was leading through her home town, but that was something they both possessed that she found she liked. There were too many people nowadays that tried to dance around issues, that sometimes by the time you got to the real issue, it was too late to do anything about it.

" I have enough to last us a while, 5 months probably, if nothing serious happens."

There was silence between them for a few moments, Keitaro was contemplating on just how much he could trust the vision of beauty beside him. He knew she could tell that wasn't his only concern, and he was a horrible liar, so if she asked and he gave some tale about school districts or some nonsense, she would see through it in an instant.

He felt he could trust her. It was almost a foreign thing for him, having spent so much time being the responsible one. But even as faded as his aura reading abilities had become, confidence, honor, honesty and truth just radiated off the woman. Outside of her staggering strength anyways.

" I hope it goes without saying that this stays between us." He started again, looking Tsuruko directly in her greyish-green eyes.

"Of course. To betray the confidence of a friend is most dishonorable."

An uncomfortable expression came over his face, thinking of all that had happened, all that he had to worry about.

"I'm scared."

They watched as Kanako managed to catch up to one of the other kids, tapped them on the shoulder and sprinted off in the other direction to continue the game. Keitaro was thankful he'd gotten her the longer skirt, the breeze and movement from running would've given the one boy visiting the shrine with family quite a show.

"I'm terrified that getting her away from our abusive drunk of a father will be the thing that takes her away from me. It's selfish, I know. But she's all I have. Even if another family could provide a safer and happier life then I'm able to, I can't lose her."

Tsuruko could sympathize with how he felt. Her mother, was a woman that spent most of her and her sister's childhood on missions ever since their father died. And so it had came down to her to make sure Motoko was properly taken care of.

It wasn't on the level that Keitaro had to deal with, as she lived on a compound with no worry for financial support. There was always food to eat, always clothes to wear. But the emotional support and guidance that Motoko needed was left to Tsuruko.

"Apparently, someone is asking around and deciding whether or not they have a case to say that I kidnapped Kanako. I guess since my father is in the hospital, and no one knows if or when he'll ever wake up, She was made a ward of the state and has no official guardian."

Tsuruko snapped her head towards him, a look of disbelief on her face.

'How stupid can they be?!' She thought.

Keitaro seemed to understand just what she was thinking.

"Yea….crazy right? I've taken care of her for most of her life, and suddenly i'm suspected of being the bad guy."

Tsuruko swallowed hard, trying to wrap her around the situation that Keitaro had found himself in.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Yea…If I can keep her from being taken to a foster home or an orphanage long enough. It's actually crossed my mind a few times over the last year or so. I could file to adopt Kanako as my own daughter, she calls me dad anyway, so it won't be a big shift for her. The problem is that I don't have a job anymore. They won't give her to me without proof I can give her everything she needs. And i'm not about to go back to that apartment. My dad's friends will be looking to get either of us into their….less than respectable business."

"You built Sets for a TV studio correct?" Tsuruko asked, the gears in her head turning, a plan that she quite liked was building.

"Yea, I oversaw construction, and did a lot of the plumbing and electrical."

A triumphant smile came over Tsuruko's face.

"Come work for me, we're in need of a good handyman. You and Kanako will have free room and board plus the funds for any other needs you or she may have."

 **-LineBreak-**

Officer Yuuto Tanaka scratched his head as he looked over all of the information he'd gathered over the last few days.

And it was the kind of stuff that his wife liked to watch on a TV drama.

A small, powerful and well respected family that owns a well known bakery. A 12 year old son, and an adopted infant girl.

All is well until the mother gets diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer, and dies not long after.

The father, unable to deal with the grief of losing his wife, being a single father, or the burden of running a business alone, loses the bakery.

They moved to a run down part of town, and the father takes to drinking his problems away.

The son drops out of his first semester of high school to get a job to help with the rent.

That's where the sad part lessens and the questions start rising.

Somehow, even with the little money the son was able to make, they were able to pay rent and almost all bills on time for a while. Based on what the manager of the building said, the father made some sketchy looking friends, but didn't know who they were by name.

That continues on until the boy reaches 17, when he gets a job for a TV studio as a set builder.

Things were a little more clear by this point, as there was now a paper trail to see where the money was coming from and going to.

He'd gotten a hold of the boys bank account, and could clearly see that most of the money made went to bills, rent, and necessities for him and his little sister. This was a son that any family would want to be married into their own.

He was someone who knew the value of hard work.

This boy, Keitaro Urashima, had even been able to take night classes and get his GED. All the while working and taking care of his adopted sister.

But how was the dad managing to keep himself well and drunk? There were no transactions for anywhere that sold alcohol.

The other members of the Urashima family had apparently been estranged for a few years, so they were no help.

The little girl, Kanako urashima, went to a nondescript elementary school.

The teachers all praised her brother, being the only one the ever saw. The school said that they were told the father worked long hours, so he didn't have the time available.

But the father, Tai Urashima, his bank account hadn't seen any sort of activity in well over a year, where his account was closed due to being overdrawn for several months. And then nothing. No credit cards, no vehicles in his name, no job to hear of. But yet, he'd been able to drink himself to near death.

The apartment they lived in, suggested that an altercation broke out, most likely between the two male Urashima's.

Then Keitaro takes his little sister and runs.

It sounds like a happy ending, but no one knew where they were. And it was decided that Tai Urashima was no longer deemed fit to be kanako's guardian.

So now there is, for all intents and purposes, a homeless orphan missing. This did not make for good press…..Press… The media, that's it!

If he could convince both a judge and his captain, that Keitaro was _not_ a danger to his sister's wellbeing, they could use it as a means to get the public looking for them to make sure they're alright. Maybe even give temporary custody to the girls brother, until an official hearing was made.

That was the hurdle though, convincing a judge that a 20 year old was fit to raise an 8 year old little girl.

It would take some work, but Tanaka felt it was doable. Keitaro had left plenty of a trail to prove it. The girls school and his boss would be the first places to start.

So… Tanaka picked up the phone to call the studio to talk to the immediate supervisor of Keitaro.

 **Ring Ring Ring.**

Tanaka had to maneuver through a few stages of automated machines.

"TTV Akira Hanji speaking."

"Hello, this is Yuuto Tanaka from Tokyo PD, I need to ask you a few questions about an employee. Keitaro Urashima."

"Oh…..I see. I'll uh, help with what I can. But Keitaro-san was let go this morning."

Oh just fucking great…..It just couldn't be that easy could it…

"I see. Hanji-san, may I ask what the reason for Urashima-sans termination was?"

"Between you and me, it had nothing to do with the kid himself."

"Can you be more specific?"

"Yea yea, Keitaro-san's a good kid. His father on the other hand, apparently made some friends that the higher ups didn't want anywhere near the TTV brand. Apparently the name Shuzen was being tossed around, that was what caused the hammer to swing, only made legal by the "at-will" termination clause HR has us all sign."

"Shuzen? Your sure that was the name?" Tanaka felt his skin crawl just at the mention.

A Yakuza family supposedly out of Yokohama, there was rumors that they specialized in human trafficking. Of course, nothing had been able to be proven. So it was all just rumor and speculation, but more than one witness had gone missing in relation to that family.

"yea, i'm sure you know how things spread around the fountain. The only thing that's stayed the same from every mouth i've heard it out of is that name….Hey mind if I ask you somethin?"

Tanaka had to admit, these types of people were his favorite to talk to. Honest, to the point, and could be held at their word. An old school blue-collar mentality.

"What is it Hanji-san?"

"Keitaro-san isn't gonna lose Kanako-chan is he? I've only met her twice, but man…. that girl loves him more than flys love shit HAHA!"

Tanaka had a hard time holding in his own laughter. yea, these types were his favorite.

"I'm working on that. First I need to find them. Him being unemployed will be a problem for a judge though."

"Yea yea I hear ya. He'll have enough money to last a bit though, he's never taken a single paid day off in the years he's been here. And I got it to him at his foreman wage. Hope the judge takes that into consideration before dismissing Keitaro-san as not being able to handle taking care of her."

The conversation ended soon after that, and Tanaka could feel that wherever Keitaro and Kanako were, it was better than wherever the Shuzen family was based out of.

But now that Keitaro didn't have a decent job, he honestly hoped the boy stayed off the radar. Because if he did, and there was a way to get some sort of evidence to work against the Shuzens… That boy would indirectly save many many lives.

Of that he was sure.

 **-LineBreak-**

Haruka was not in a good mood. And hadn't been for the last two weeks. It had been just over that since she'd gotten that phone call about Keitaro and Kanako.

'17days'

She'd been doing her best to get back to her normal self, and now only a few times a day would she catch herself lost in thought about where they were, how they were doing.

Even with all the connections that the Urashima family, more specifically her and Hina had built over the years, were next to useless. The only things they knew, was that Keitaro had taken a decent amount of cash out of an ATM on the afternoon they left.

Then they had apparently gotten on a train heading west. So there were three likely possibilities of were they went. Nagoya, Kyoto or Osaka. But there was no way to tell if they were still there.

She thought of Keitaro, and what he was like a kid, to try and place herself in his shoes.

Back when they had frequently seen each other, he was kind, he was selfless….but more than that, he was protective.

One time she had taken him along a trail in the woods, she was 13 and was 9. There'd been a dog that was less than friendly, and Keitaro stepped in front of her to handle the angry animal.

Just based on that memory, she thought that Keitaro would want to get as far away as possible.

Not something to put her mind at ease. She wanted to find him, _needed_ to find him!

After a week of nothing to go on, Hina and Haruka had set the resources at their disposal to tracking the Shuzens instead. Because if there was anything at the moment that was going to place them in trouble, it was that family.

Other than a few gambling rings though, and a massage parlor turned brothel there had been no mention of anything really happening.

So here she was, standing in her shop, pouring tea and coffee for people with nothing significant to talk about. At least she knew that Hina was working her magic on a judge that owed her a few favors to make the transition easier for Keitaro to go from brother to father.

That was something they knew without a doubt that he would be thinking of doing.

'supra omnem sanguinem…..Blood above all.'

That was the Urashima motto. Although, why they chose Latin was still confusing. She just supposed it was to fuck with people, it seemed to be a trait that ran in the family…she certainly enjoyed it, as did Hina.

"Haruka-san, phone call." her longest employee called out, bringing her back to reality.

Haruka walked over to the old and annoying thing and pressed the receiver to her ear, ready to translate the muffled sounds into a comprehensible sentence.

"Hello?" As frank as ever, she answered.

"Is this Haruka or Hina Urashima?" It was that same damn cop from before.

"Yea, this is Haruka."

"This is Yuuto Hanji from Tokyo PD. I don't want to interrupt your business, so i'll get to the point."

" About time." She smirked as she heard the officer tighten his grip around whatever phone he was using. It wasn't that she disliked the police, but most of them were useless in her opinion. The possibility that they would find Keitaro before her or Hina, was pretty damn low.

"Right. The point, We know that he took a train from Tokyo heading west, any idea where he might have gotten off?"

"Nagoya, Kyoto or Osaka. but knowing my cousin, he didn't stay there for long."

The officer sighed heavily, the guy must working pretty hard on this one. A missing kid case was always good if you were looking for a promotion.

"I figured as much. Thank you for your time."

As Haruka put the receiver down she scoffed. "Useless."

Haruka went back to what she was doing, mainly, making sure her employees did as they were told.

Yuki Kurono gave her a glance as she placed a pair of cups in the sink to be washed.

"Everything alright Haruka-san?"

"other than knowing next to nothing….Just peachy."

Yuki was the only employee that knew anything of Haruka's current familial dilemma. The older woman was like a surrogate aunt, since she'd worked here almost as long as the place had been open. Yoko, Haruka's mother, had hired her on the week she'd opened the shop.

Yuki merely nodded and went back to work. And that was the best part about her, Haruka thought. She was good at reading between the lines.

"I'm stepping out." Haruka told her, grabbing her pack of cigarettes as she headed for the back door.

Haruka walked up the seemingly endless staircase, and heard a voice muttering.

"Vile shelled demons… Repulsive, disgusting…Should be wiped off the planet."

'Heh, guess Su-chan has a new mecha-tama.'

Haruka came to the top of the steps to see Motoko glancing every which way. If Haruka had to guess, based on the gears and metal parts laying around the courtyard, Su had sent about a dozen of her turtle robots to be tested against Motoko's family sword techniques. Clearly Motoko won.

"I never did understand why you hate them so much Motoko-chan." Haruka made her presence known.

Motoko looked over to the top of the steps, and saw the older woman, usual cigarette in place, and straightened herself out, with a flourish of her blade it was back in the scabbard.

"All that matters is that I _do_ hate them." Was Motoko's curt reply.

"Right."

Haruka walked passed the Kendo girl and continued on into the dorm.

Motoko glanced around her, seeing the clean up required from her involuntary testing of Su's new Mecha-Tama, decided to have the items creator dispose of the waste.

Harula walked through the living and to the stairs, noting that Kitsune was once again unconscious on the couch before dinner, as her horse races were playing on the TV.

She went up the stairs to where Granny no doubt was.

 **knock knock**

"Come in Haru-chan."

Haruka felt her teeth start to grind at the nickname that was _once again_ used on her.

But she slid the door open, stepped inside and slid it closed behind her.

"How many times will it take, before you stop calling me that?"

Hina just laughed at her grand daughter. That was the entire reason she kept calling her Haru-chan, because it was one of the few things that got a rise out of her. Unless Keitaro called her that or course. The boy could get away with murder with Haruka.

Haruka just marched on, ignoring the look of amusement in Hina's eyes.

"Anyways….Cops called. They've got nothing other than the direction of the train."

"I see I see. Nothing has happened with his accounts in quite a while, not since the train anyways." Hina replied, not at all sounding how she really felt.

At this point one of two things had happened. He had either found a way to function with cash only, without dipping into what he had in his account, or he was as good as dead.

But Hina had faith in Keitaro's adaptability. She refused to believe that the worst had happened. Refused to believe it yet anyway.

"If you don't have anything, then i'm going back to my shop."

Haruka turned around to walk out the door, before Hina called out to her for one question.

"Did it effect you that much Haruka?"

"Nothing _has_ ….And I doubt, ever _will_ compare."

"So was Seta just an interim replacement?"

"First impressions are a bitch."

 **-LineBreak-**

Keitaro lay on his futon, having just smacked his alarm off.

He would get up and start getting ready for the day….If he could.

Kanako had, once again, draped herself across him in her sleep. She claimed that it wasn't on purpose, but he was starting to think that was a lie.

He didn't mind all _that_ much, except that he really hated moving her before she needed to get up, a kid needs their sleep after all.

He angled his head down, and made as quiet a groan of disgust as he could manage.

'Not again.'

For the 5th day in a row, Kanako had been drooling in her sleep. And with him being shirtless with a pair of athletic shorts to sleep in, it was just gross to wake up to the drool with the morning breath stench.

Luckily he really didn't _need_ to be up for another 30 minutes, and he had deemed that an acceptable time to wake her up as well. It would give her a few minutes to play with other kids her age that lived on the Aoyama compound.

And that was a priceless reprieve. Any energy that he didn't have to expel from her was a gift of the highest order. He loved her more than life itself, but _damn_ was she hyper.

'Maybe I should take Tsuruko-san up on that training offer?'

Two weeks here had been more than a godsend. Not only was nearly everything that Kanako needed right here, but he was able to stay away from his savings. He hadn't needed to think about withdrawing any money at all.

But that would end soon enough. Kanako seemed to be, once again, growing like a weed. The white skirt she'd worn on the day Tsuruko made her offer was just under her knees then. But now it was like the damn thing was losing a centimeter a day.

So… _loathe_ as he was to admit it. A shopping day was coming up.

Kanako had seen some of the things the God's cry students were doing, and seemed captivated by it, so she had asked him to let her do it.

His reasons for saying no were quickly running out. Besides he'd started at 5 years old. And it would give him some more peace of mind for when she got older, if she were able to protect herself.

Keitaro's eyes widened as Kanako shifted her knee, placing right onto his bladder.

Keitaro tapped her on the shoulder repeatedly, trying his best to wake her without throwing her from his body. If he didn't get up in the next few minutes, he wouldn't make it to a bathroom to relieve himself, they were a good 100 meters walk from the guest room that he and Kanako had claimed as their own.

"Kanako-chan, wake up."

She stirred lightly, but didn't seem to really be of a cognizant state of mind yet.

Keitaro tapped her again, this time a little more forcefully this time.

"Kanako-chan, please, I have to pee." He pleaded.

Her face nuzzled in deeper, her arms tightened around him, which placed her knee further into his bladder.

'Fuck it.'

Keitaro threw the blanket off himself, and stood up, holding onto Kanako until she decided that the movement was enough to wake up.

He moved to the door, and slid it open, revealing the beautifully maintained lands shining in the morning sun, before Kanako stirred and opened her eyes.

"Daaaaaaddddddyyyy! Go back inside!" She whined.

The hand that had opened the door pinched her cheek lightly, as he smiled down at her.

"If you don't get up Kana-chan, i'm bringing you into the bathroom with me." He teased.

her eyes snapped open, and she wiggled to get out of his grasp.

He relented and set her on her feet. She spun around in her black nightgown, trying to get her bearings. Then darted back inside, undoubtedly to get dressed so she could go play with Kiyo and Asuna before they started their morning training.

"I'll be right back Kanako-chan!" he yelled back to the room as he made his way to where the restrooms were.

That was a new thing that Keitaro was quickly coming to enjoy, being able to step away for a few minutes with no concern for her safety.

The first three days here on the Aoyama compound were a little touch and go. Almost all of the people residing here were female, and not used to a male presence, let alone one they hadn't been prepared to see and one they didn't know, on the grounds of their home.

Keitaro would be minding his own business, doing the work that was asked of him, when a few of the younger trainees would pounce on him. Apparently they thought he was some pervert there to defile their young bodies.

After Keitaro left them unable to move on the ground, he merely walked away. Tsuruko had walked around the corner of the building Keitaro had been heading for, to do an inspection for repairs that needed to be made, and reprimanded them for disturbing _her_ guest.

And that had been the start of a game of sorts between Keitaro and the younger girls of the Shinmei-Ryu.

They would challenge him as they made their way to morning training, he would soundly defeat them without a hand touching them, lecturing them on what they were doing wrong.

"Keep your stance wider."

"Switch the position of your dominant hand."

"Don't lock your knees, you're going to hurt yourself like that."

His tone had been eerily similar to how some of their instructors had been, but quite a bit softer. The first time he'd done it, they felt he was being demeaning towards their efforts. It only took one girl to accept the critique for the game to turn into a learning experience.

And so the game of 'destroy the male' now typically ended with the girls taking their lessons to heart.

Tsuruko caught the tail end of their game, ready to deal punishment once more, only to stop as each girl attacking Keitaro would acknowledge his words with a "yes sensei!"

It gave her a new idea to bring up to both Keitaro and the elder council.

But there would be one major kink, two of the more prominent, and volatile council members would be returning from a mission soon. No doubt doubt they would like to test the mettle of their new resident, and possible unarmed combat instructor.

 **-LineBreak-**

Shinobu Maehara, the newest of the residents at the Hinata-Sou, and the one that cooked almost all meals, stood in her domain of appliances.

Things had been strange off and on for almost the last month. She'd only been here for a few months, but it was long enough to get a decent read on the others that resided there.

Starting at the top of the food chain, Granny Hina was usually the picture perfect kind old woman you see or hear about in stories. But since "the shift" as she deemed it, Shinobu had managed to pick up a tension around the elderly woman that reminded her of her parents own troubles.

It obviously wasn't the same, since she had never seen a man with Granny Hina, but it seemed to stem from some sort of family issue that was going on. Whatever it was...it was causing a lot of stress for her, and Shinobu had always been sensitive to these kinds of things.

Haruka, the owner and manager of the nearby tea shop, had been rather blunt in her frustration over what she assumed was the same situation that bothered Granny. Even if some of the specific causes for their specific emotions was different, it looked like they stemmed from the same issue.

The only thing she could think of was when Haruka returned after her outburst with a diploma in hand. Whoever the diploma was for, was the source.

The only other resident to be seemingly effected by these things was Motoko. The swordswoman appeared to be thrown off balance by "the shift". Normally, the tall young woman would be up on the roof just before dawn, and would come down to breakfast with a sheen of sweat.

Lately, the typical thumping of footsteps coming from the roof was far less frequent. Kitsune had, as usual, found a way to phrase her question with a laced innuendo that only herself and Su had apparently missed.

"Your outfit's hangin' a lil loose there Kendo Girl. you gettin some personal exploration time up there?"

Su hadn't slowed down in shoveling food in her mouth to even suggest she'd heard any of the conversation, while Shinobu tilted her head, trying to figure out just what Kitsune was talking about.

Naru had turned bright red, and started lecturing Kitsune with Motoko on how that was an inappropriate topic with the two younger residents present while Granny Hina giggled merrily.

Shinobu rose from her seat to start clearing the dishes from the table when the phone rang, something that seemed to be happening more often lately, as for the first 2 months she lived there the phone had never rung.

"Hinata-Sou, Shinobu Maehara speaking."

 _"Good morning Ms. Maehara. This is the office of Judge Amano, is Hina Urashima available?"_ A tired yet still pleasant female voice came through the speaker.

Shinobu glanced back to the table, Su had already vanished, and everyone else was getting up to go about their business.

"One moment please." Shinobu said, placing the receiver on the counter.

Shinobu caught Granny Hina just before she made it to the staircase.

"Granny Hina, there's a call for you."

Hina smiled towards the girl, giving her an affectionate pat on the shoulder.

"Thank you deary. Go on and get ready for school now."

Hina turned back to take her call, Shinobu stood there for a moment before doing as she had been told.

Hina took a moment to take a deep breath, she was only expecting one call, but didn't think it would be this soon. Hopefully it was good news.

"Hina speaking."

 _"Good morning Urashima-Sama. I am calling in reference to your request. The custody transfer of Kanako Urashima has been denied."_

Hina felt her heart drop, and her breathing increase. The judge that owed her a favor was no pushover, and her family's standing would have given them priority over most others. So what was holding this back? Was she unaware of some new development regarding Keitaro?

"May I ask why? Certainly we provided enough positive references to prove Kanako will be well taken of."

 _"Yes, all of the references indeed painted your grandson in a positive light. However, someone else filed the same paperwork on behalf of your grandson. It appears as though he has many friends in high places, and the request was given the green light."_

Immediately, Hina felt herself relax. While she didn't know _exactly_ where Keitaro was, she was certain that he was safe. And now she wouldn't have to worry about what would happen to Kanako.

But maybe she could at least find out which city the file came from, then she could narrow it down from there.

"That is excellent news! May I ask where the other file originated from? Not many have the pull to over ride a family of the old imperial court."

 _"I apologize Urashima-sama. But all i'm allowed to tell you on that end, is that another family of equal standing made the request, and provided all the needed information which yours was lacking. The Kyoto Judicial district will not permit me to say anything more."_

'Kyoto is it?' Hina thought, catching on that the secretary hinting at just where her grandchildren were, and with whom.

Her voice carried a smile as she thanked the woman on the phone, before walking towards the front door to give Haruka the good news.

After a month of worrying, they had a damn good idea of where Keitaro was.

' Chiharu, he may be your son-in-law yet. Oh the look on Motoko's face will be priceless.'

The smile on Hina's face as she entered the tea shop made Haruka halt in pouring. When Hina said nothing, but walked into the back room, Haruka abandoned her customer and followed. Eager to hear what news she had.

 **END Chapter 3**

 **I know i'm jumping a bit. But I want to get to the Hinata soon-ish.**


	4. The addicts obsession

**I want to say this before we begin. I don't believe i've stated who Keitaro will end up with. obviously from the listing, you know of Haruka and Tsuruko. Theres one more girl. I couldn't leave her out of it.**

 _'Ah'm sooooo dead.'_ Kitsune thought as she sat across from Haruka.

Kistune had finally crumbled and given in to her usual curiosity, and broken in to Harukas apartment above the shop when she thought the owner was out on a supply run.

Kitsune had been going through some very interesting pictures of Haruka with a boy a few years younger than her when she was busted.

In any other circumstance, those pictures would have been copied and stored for later use as blackmail for sake or betting money. But when she saw them, the mystery of what was bugging the two Urashima women just got deeper and deeper.

Most of the pictures were from family trips to Okinawa or at the Hinata before it was a dorm.

Just about every single one that Haruka was in, the boy was also. And Haruka seemed to initiating a kiss in 90% of them. Some were on the cheek, which could be written off as an affectionate relative greeting someone they hadn't seen in a while. Even if Haruka was typically the farthest thing from affectionate.

The others….were much more intimate. A few had Haruka draping her arms over his shoulders from behind, leaning forward and kissing him at the base of the neck. That definitely wasn't something family usually did.

And the rest were full lip contact kisses, her arms wrapped around his neck, and his around her waist.

The smiles on Haruka in those pictures was so far removed from anything the Hinata girls had ever seen, that she thought it was a fake at first. But the rage of the avid smoker told her that they were indeed the real deal.

"So, are you going to explain _why_ you decided to break into my place? Or should I get started on your eviction notice?" Haruka was as blunt as ever.

Kitsune winced, and had a hard time meeting the stern gaze directed towards her. It was unfortunate that Granny Hina was out running some sort of errand, because the old woman surely would have helped smooth things out.

"The way you an Granny have been actin' for the last two and a half, almost three months got me curious. Ah thought that maybe there'd be some clue to what was buggin' ya in here." The voice of the resident fox was much more withdrawn than usual.

Haruka took a long drag of her cancer stick, finishing it off and stamping it out in the ash tray on the table.

"And you decided that instead of asking me or Granny, that you'd commit a crime….I don't think breaking and entering would look good to any paper or magazine." Those brown eyes seemed much harder than she could ever recall being.

"Didn't think you'd tell me anythin'. Especially not with how tense you've been ever since Granny got that weird call." Kitsune immediately regretted saying those words, as Haruka glared even harder.

Haruka did _not_ need another reminder that Keitaro was most likely with the one person she thought could take him away from her. She'd go there herself to see them, but after what happened between her, Tsuruko and the Aoyama family….that probably wasn't the best idea.

Motoko was the only person to benefit from that little spell of bisexual curiosity. If they'd been allowed to have regular contact with each other, she would feel better about him being there. But who knew what the elders had done to her since.

Haruka stood up and took measured steps towards the counter where the hard liquor was, grabbed her favorite bottle of whiskey, two glasses and plopped back down on the wooden chair.

Kitsune watched the woman, comparing the action to that of a final act of mercy before Haruka would kill her and hide the body.

The bottle gave a loud pop as the cork was pulled out, Haruka poured two heavy glasses without ice, and slid one to the would be criminal.

Haruka didn't wait for Kitsune to pick it up, she drank hers in one go, and started to pour another.

"It's been a while since you and I have had a drink together." Haruka said with a grimace from the burn of the liquid.

Kitsune picked the glass up, clinked it with the one in Harukas hand and chugged down half of it.

"Is this gonna be one of those 'If word leaves this room, you'll make ma life hell?' deals?"

Haruka gave her a steady look. "Hell would be a vacation spot."

Nodding, Kitsune finished her glass, sliding it over for a refill.

It was almost like a ritual between the two occasional drinking buddies, although this situation was reversed.

Usually, it was Kitsune with something to tell, and Haruka would listen. Whatever was said during that time, was to never be brought up again.

"I get why you're curious. Granny and I have done a poor job of dealing with this situation emotionally. I'm sure the others are as well…er…maybe not Motoko."

Kitsune gave a small chuckle at that, the resident Kendo girl had been adamant about not sticking your nose in places it didn't belong. But even she seemed a bit curious about the atmosphere around their home as of late.

"But your method of satisfying your curiosity, is unacceptable."

Kitsune held her hands up in surrender.

"Ah'm sorry Haruka-san. Truly." Haruka scoffed at that, not believing those words for a moment.

"Ah tried to play nice. But you an Granny have been actin' weird for a long time now. Ah had to find out why."

Haruka took a sip, as she contemplated her next words. She set the glass down carefully.

"And? Did your great detective skills find anything worth while?"

Kitsune gave a shrug.

"Not really. Ah know it has somethin' to do with this Keitaro person. But ah knew that before lookin' through your stuff. We all heard you blow up on Granny that mornin', although none of us heard enough to really know whats goin' on."

Kitsune slammed her whole drink, as the next words could put her into more hot water with the woman across from her.

"But lookin' at those pictures…Ah think ah'm startin' to understand a bit."

Haruka stiffened, but relaxed after a few seconds. It was too late to try and hide anything, not that she was hiding how she felt about him. It was just nobodies damn business.

"You obviously love the guy. An' have for a long time, based on how old the pictures are. Somethin' bad happened to him, but none of us know what." She finished, and waited for words or a violent response.

The small, almost imperceptible small on Harukas face was telling. Kitsune watched as her companion got lost in memories for a few seconds.

'Falling for Kei is as easy as breathing.' She thought to herself.

"Ah gotta question Haruka-san." Haruka blinked and gave her attention back to Kitsune.

"Go ahead."

"Motoko-chan and myself always thought that there was somethin' goin' on between you an' Seta. So…what's with this Keitaro guy? He's family right?"

Haruka raised an eyebrow at the first part of what she'd just heard. Her and _Seta?_ Seriously? Not even if he were the last man on the planet.

"What makes you think i'd want anything to do with _that_ idiot?"

The harsh words made Kitsune pause. Sure Haruka never was one to pull punches, but there was a finality in the way she said it. Clearly she had missed something the last time Seta paid a visit.

"When he was here before vanishin' into thin air, he looked like a lovestruck puppy. Then you had this wistful stare after he left. Made me think you were just playin' hard to get."

Haruka stifled a laugh. She knew exactly what Kistune was referring to.

When Seta had dropped by before running off on one of his digs, he'd tried to court her for the hundredth time. And when he'd left, all she could think about was the day Keitaro and her had been out in the back of the dorm property in the small waterfall swimming. And then the days in Okinawa, the things that they'd gotten up to out there had been promised never to be told to their families. His, Harukas, or the other girls.

Haruka was pretty sure the island ditz hadn't kept her word though. No doubt she'd forgotten it was supposed to be secret and blabbed almost as soon as they left.

"Let me be clear. There is _No way in HELL_ i'd ever be in a relationship with that moron. He can waste his life chasing after me all he wants. But it'll never happen."

Haruka took a breath to keep herself calm, thinking about Seat often pissed her off.

"Remember. None of this leaves this room, or you'll find that sake stash you're keeping suddenly gone."

Kitsune gulped, wide eyed at the threat and nodded.

"He's my cousin. The son of my mothers sister, and Hina's only grandson. He's been missing."

 **-LineBreak-**

As much as he hated shopping, Keitaro could not keep himself from smiling at the happiness that radiated from Kanako.

His current living situation made it much easier for him to spoil her with toys and gifts. He could never thank Tsuruko enough for giving him the ability to make her smile more freely.

Speaking of the headmistress, she had requested to tag along with the two of them during their outing, citing the need to get off the family grounds for a bit.

As Kanako demanded that she ride on his shoulders, as she usually did when they were out in pubic walking around for extended periods of time, Tsuruko walked beside him in more modern clothes than usual.

Instead of the training clothes that she almost always wore, today she chose a nearly knee length navy skirt with a rather tight fitting white t-shirt.

The looks she received from the male passers by made Keitaro want to take a step closer to her. Memories of those same looks in dimmed rooms with drunk or drugged up girls, unable to refuse the advances of men, flooding to the front of his mind.

Tsuruko was very capable of defending herself, but the instinctive desire was still there. He could tell that she noticed his actions, but not the motive. To any normal person, it would be seen as a desire to protect what was theirs, like a girlfriend or wife.

For a brief moment, she looked at him confused, before her usual behind the hand laugh came.

Kanako shifted on his shoulders a bit, her legs tightening around him as she squeezed the cat plushy, nuzzling her cheek against its velvet exterior.

"Where to next Kei-kun?" The traditional beauty next to him, had been pushing rather hard lately to change how they addressed each other.

She pouted anytime they were alone and he still called her Tsuruko-san, instead of Tsu-chan.

And to be honest, his resolve to keep from giving in was being chipped away at. Only the nature of their entire relationship was keeping him from being so casual. As both his employer and landlord, Keitaro could not afford to upset any of the elder members on the Aoyama compound.

While Tsuruko was the headmistress, she was not the one that made the decisions outside of the training of recruits. Keeping his home and job was more important that what he _might_ have felt for her.

 _rule #1 don't get involved with someone affiliated with your place of employment._

That had been drilled into him needlessly at his old job. But the heart and hormones often won over logic, as he and his supervisor had witnessed over and over.

"Why don't we stop and grab a bite to eat?" He offered, glancing from Tsuruko, to what portions of Kanako he could see.

Tsuruko accepted the idea, so Keitaro waited for a response from the girl upon his shoulders.

He was only slightly caught off guard when his vision was cut off by the violet eyes and black curtain of hair.

"Can we get ice cream daddy? Please please please!" her excitement was quickly laced with his most detested opponent….pouty puppy dog eyes.

A female weapon of mass destruction, interwoven into their DNA. He was absolutely certain that every girl and woman knew how to instinctively do it. And the recipients of the XY chromosome were not properly equipped to defend.

Keitaro stopped walking, because he couldn't see anything other than Kanako at the moment.

"Let's go somewhere that you can have _real_ food, and then have ice cream for dessert."

Her way too effective weapon released its hold on him as she straightened back out, gave an excited squeal and nuzzled her cheek on the top of his head.

"Thank you Daddy! You're the best!"

For once, Keitaro wasn't getting looked at strangely during his little sisters loud outbursts. And for the first hour of their being out on the town, it confused him.

Then he realized why. it wasn't just him and Kanako, which made him look like some perv, with a girl to old to be his daughter calling him daddy. With Tsuruko with them, along with the same shade of hair and skin complexion, they actually looked like a young family.

"Hmmmm, I seem to recall a place that may fit that description." Tsuruko tapped a finger on her chin.

It was called the Blu Jam cafe, an american chain that had made its way overseas. It was about the typical brunch time, so it was a pretty appropriate place to choose.

Decent food that had a different flare, and at a price that wasn't too high.

Kanako had, of course, chosen the thing with the most sugar. French toast smothered in maple syrup. He would have to get help with winding her down tonight, otherwise he'd never sleep.

Keitaro had gotten a ceasar chicken wrap, and Tsuruko had followed his lead, as neither of them had tried it before.

By the time that Kanako had gotten her Chocolate and strawberry ice cream cone to take with for the walk, she was already showing signs of the impending sugar rush.

 _great…_

"Why don't we stop at this park for a little while? No need to rush, is there?" Tsuruko pointed off across the street where a large park was, as they left the site of their meal.

At a quick glance, Keitaro could see a few ways to bleed off some of the rambunctious girls energy. A merry go round, a playground with monkey bars, slides and swings.

Spending 30 minutes there could save 2 hours of trouble later.

"That sounds like a good idea. How about you kiddo?"

Kanako nodded her head excitedly while licking at the ice cream, apparently she couldn't be bothered to speak her answer.

As they approached the crosswalk towards their new distraction, Keitaro's hand lightly brushed up against Tsurukos, as they were standing in between the mass of people waiting.

A nostalgic feeling came over him at the physical glance, and a light gasp could be heard from Tsuruko.

It was something he felt a long time ago, with someone that was probably having adventures worthy of a novel. She'd always been a thrill seeker.

He watched as the parallel side was flashing to signal the coming change in the light. Just as it changed, Tsuruko laced her fingers with his, making that feeling flare up again. This time much stronger, as his own body betrayed him and responded on its own.

He wanted to look and ask her what she was doing, but with the crowd moving, he wasn't given the chance. They walked across, with his mind looking for an explanation.

He knew what the feeling was. He knew what it represented. But he wasn't sure he believed it. He was told it could only happen once in a lifetime.

At that brief glancing touch, the Ki in each of their bodies had resonated with each other. It was so seemless, so immediate, that if an adept aura reader had been at a distance, they would have thought they were a single being.

His energy swirled and mixed with hers, like watching two different colors of paint become a new one. His vibrant green, and her ocean blue.

Kanako quickly chomped the ice cream and the cone, she seemed okay for a few seconds before throwing her hands to her head and groaning loudly.

"Daaaaadddddy! My brain is freezed! Heeeeeeeelllllllllpppp!"

 **-LineBreak-**

Sitting in for these meetings was pointless in her opinion. Twirling a lock of her hair, the maroon dye still a new sight for her, she couldn't help the wandering thoughts.

As the men and one other woman in the room discussed the assets that were being sent and received in the coming days, her mind could only think of the one that got away.

 _Oh_ how she loved those sessions they'd shared. The power she felt at having him at her every beck and call. _Whenever_ she wanted, _wherever_ she wanted, _however_ she wanted.

That week in Okinawa was just sublime. 4 days without leaving that hotel room had no doubt been quite the hassle to clean up and air out for the staff. But she didn't care in the slightest. All she cared about, was the way he had _pleasured_ her.

She could feel her body heat up as the memories came. She had made it absolutely clear, that there was no 'making love' with her. No, she wanted him to _fuck_ her. hard, primal, instinctual, visceral _sex_.

He was a quick learner, only needing one…remedial lesson, to understand what she wanted. That was when she'd discovered that she quite enjoyed watching as well.

As he took the new recruit for her first time, not giving her any warning as his divine cock was thrust into her virgin pussy. He had been instructed to fuck the new girl just as he would her, no gentle thrusts, no easing her into it. Hard and fast. That sweet face of shock when she had told him to take the girls virginity, the thought alone made her wet.

The whore should have been grateful that she was sharing her _toy._ And only around the 5th time he filled her with his _delicious_ cum, did she start to enjoy it.

The time it took him to recover and get hard again was only another reason she wanted him back in her clutches.

Some of the most mind shattering orgasms she'd had, were after watching him send her subordinates into a sex induced bliss, and then having him slam her against the wall with near pelvis shattering force.

Shit. She really needed to get out of this room. If she couldn't have her favorite toy, she would just have to use the next best thing.

Unfortunately, Her Keitaro was so much better than the other male whores they had, that a vibrator was the second choice.

Pitiful.

"Mira. Pay attention." The voice of her father cut off her fantasies.

Her deep brown eyes looked into the ones that sired her. Clearly he knew what she was thinking about, by the look on his face.

 _The nympho shouldn't run our sex trade!_ The others had protested.

But who else was as good as she was? She was the one that had gotten that branch of their business to take off. And her father had begrudgingly taken her side.

The disgust on his face, the one time he'd walked in on her getting railed, cum stains all over her body, was as close to a non-tactile orgasm as she'd ever get.

"Yes father." The flush on her cheeks and how she bit her lower lip, let everyone know that she would only have half a mind on what was in front of her.

She needed Keitaro back. And she needed him _now._ It had been far too long since he'd gotten away from her. She just kept telling herself, that he couldn't refuse her forever. He would come crawling back to her eventually. But she was starting to think that maybe, she needed to force his hand.

 **-LineBreak-**

Sitting on the bench, Keitaro and Tsuruko watched as Kanako sprinted around with the 4 other kids. His employer had yet to let go of his hand.

"Kei." There she went again, trying to push the limits of their relationship.

Keitaro was getting the feeling, that she would continue to press the issue, unless something was said about it.

"What is it Tsuruko-san?" He had to wonder why it was _him_ she seemed to want a relationship with. Surely there was a line of suitors waiting for her.

She was beautiful, she was kind, she was fun to be around. The only thing that _might_ turn other guys away, was how strong she was. A lot of men, would not want a wife that could dismember them on a whim.

"Mou~! How many times do we have to go over this?" She gave an angry pout.

Keitaro doubted there were many who had seen the mighty Tsuruko Aoyama, pouting like a teenager not getting her way. Despite himself, he smiled at the sight of it. It was _almost_ as cute as Kanakos. But Kanako had perfected hers to get what she wanted from him. Tsuruko still needed to work on hers to get it to that level.

"Hehe. Fine fine, Tsu-chan, what is it?" He caved after the weeks of her pressuring him about it.

The way that her face brightened was….radiant.

he'd tried _very_ hard, to keep feelings out of their arrangement, but Tsuruko seemed bound and determined to change that.

"You finally said it!" The woman who was a few years older than himself, seemed to vibrate with excitement, in a similar way that Kanako would when he had a surprise for her.

Maybe he shouldn't have given in, because now the conversation seemed to be derailed. She continued to giggle and sway side to side for a full minute before he tried to reel her back in.

"Tsuruko-san-"

"No!" She snapped back as soon as the words left his mouth.

"You said it, and I won't let you take it back. I don't care who we're around."

What happened to the refined lady and martial artist? It couldn't have been that big of a deal to her….could it?

"What about the elders? Certainly they'd expect some sort of formality."

Tsuruko scoffed at his words, and waved it off with the hand not attached to his.

"They're wondering why we're not married yet. Last night after you took Kanako to bed, Koichi-"

 _Wait….What?_

Keitaro couldn't hear what she was saying anymore. That was a major shock to him, and how he perceived the way the elders had been acting when he saw one…as few and far between as it was.

When had this started?

Sure. The day they met, he ended up going to a _very_ nice place for dinner. But he had Kanako with him! Surely that could only be seen as a reward for him saving her from that truck. And not a date.

Then she had led them around town the next day, but Tsuruko had said that it was because she felt that she hadn't done enough to pay him back. It was also because they were new to the area and she had lived here her whole life. Again….not a date.

Then there was a dinner between just the two of them, discussing what his duties would be as the resident handyman. Now Keitaro was starting to see where certain signals might have been sent, that he hadn't even considered.

That dinner was candlelit. Soft music in the background, just the two of them. Magnificently prepared steak with wine for her and tea for him. Because he refused to drink.

Then when she had introduced him to the judge that had actually taken the time to listen to his story, given him the benefit of the doubt, and granted him temporary custody of Kanako until the proper adoption process could be dealt with. The kidnapping case would be dealt with separately, but he'd said that things were looking good for him, and that only one person was associated with the claim.

After that meeting, they had celebrated at yet another fine dining establishment. More dim lighting, more soft music. Once they returned, she had given him a hug where one hand was on the back of his head, the other on the center of his back. Looking back, it was almost like she was thinking of whether she should kiss him or not.

And then Last week. Another dinner with just him and Tsuruko. They had discussed if he would want to teach a basic hand to hand defensive course. Apparently two of the elders had seen him with the younger girls in the morning, and approved of the idea.

It would bring him a substantial increase in pay, plus he would be doing something he enjoyed.

The fact that he would be teaching the next generation of young women to defend themselves from rapists and abusers was a big plus in his book.

More wine, more fine dining. And this time…A kiss on the cheek.

 _'I am_ ** _such an idiot.'_**

All of the signs were right in front of him. But did he even recognize them? No!

Because he was so focused on Kanako 100% percent of the time, the efforts of the woman next to him had gone completely over his head.

And the last few had been so obvious. The only ones he'd noticed were how she addressed him, and the smiles accompanying her words.

That along with his previous….romantic encounters….if you could even call them that. Had been so far removed from this experience, that he didn't even notice.

If there was one thing that stood above the rest though…it was today. When she had started holding his hand.

One of the last lessons his mother had given him, right before her diagnosis, was about aura reading.

How to tell an aggressive aura versus a benevolent one. She had only briefly touched on soul resonance.

When the ki of two people was so in sync, that they melded together into one.

His mother, one of the best aura readers that ever lived…according to her anyway… said that if your ki subconsciously synced, it was the equivalent of your soul screaming at you, saying "MARRY THIS PERSON!"

Because the soul cannot lie. Your Ki cant hide its true aspects once in physical contact with another.

 _But thats a problem…._

Keitaro couldn't help but think of that time in the woods, years ago. He'd felt that same resonance.

 _It was the same with Haru-chan…_

Did that mean that, because of his natural excess of Ki circuits, that he would resonate perfectly with any adept Ki user?

If so, then that really wasn't an accurate way to gauge how compatible he could be with anyone.

And with his tainted past of intimacy…. He couldn't see anyone wanting to be with him anyway.

For the past 2 years, Keitaro had been satisfied knowing that Kanako would be the only significant relationship he would have with a female. He would know love, even if only platonic. He'd accepted that.

"Kei?"

But why would the Aoyama elders be thinking of marriage so soon? Tsuruko was a beautiful woman, and no doubt would have any pick in a lineup.

She was a few years older than he was….but surely they didn't still think a woman couldn't get married passed the age of 25…right?

The whole 'Christmas cake' thing was so out dated. The people of this generation wanted to get their lives established before settling down. That didn't make them lesser goods then the ones getting married young.

"Kei-kun?"

No, there had to be some other reason… Something else that he wasn't aware of yet. Something he was missing. But what was it?

"Keitaro!"

He blinked at the loud voice right in front of him. Tsuruko looking a bit worried at the way he'd just zoned out like that.

"Sorry. I kinda spaced out after the whole….marriage bit."

Tsuruko bit her lip, concerned about the answer to the thing she was about to ask.

"Does that…upset you?"

Keitaro didn't want to leave her hanging with something that sounded bad. Marrying her, on its most basic level…would be amazing. It was the other things his mind had sprung up, that worried him.

"Does the thought of marrying you, upset me?" He asked, to clarify, just in case he had missed some other part of the conversation.

She nodded in a far more subdued manner than was usual for her.

"Not in the slightest." He said, getting her face to break out in that same radiant smile from earlier.

Internally, he was getting an uneasy feeling.

He liked Tsuruko, but the things he's been through, the things he's done…Her family would disown her for being attached to him. He would _not_ do that to her.

"Kanako-chan! Time to go!" He called out when he noticed that the game had wound down, and the kids were all catching their breath.

'Shit….' He thought as his sister ran over to him and Tsuruko. If she kept pushing…he'd have to tell her, just why getting involved with him was a bad idea. It was for her own good.

 **-LineBreak-**

Mira Shuzen, the only daughter of the head of the group, walked down the hall of her lavish apartment building.

She had just heard some wonderful news.

The current city where her favorite asset was living.

As she unlocked her door and stepped inside, she immediately started undressing.

She _hated_ being clothed when she was in her own home.

"Sona!" She called out.

undoing her blouse and letting fall to the ground, footsteps came from near the kitchen.

her hands came around her back to unclasp her bra, when the one she summoned came into the entryway.

A young woman of about 22, dark hair that went just passed her shoulders, her right eye brown while the left was blue. An odd combination to be sure, but oddly captivating at the same time.

This was the first woman that she'd forced Keitaro to have sex with. Mira had enjoyed watching the woman writhe in pleasure so much that she had commissioned her as a personal employee a few months after she'd been working the brothels.

As per her house rules, the woman was just as naked as Mira was planning to be in a moment.

"Yes mistress?" The young woman had a dazed look on her face, her hands coming behind her back to give her average sized breasts more emphasis, which was another house rule.

Rule 1, always be naked. Rule 2, present yourself in a way that entices your mistress. Rule 3, thorough daily hygiene rituals, no one likes a woman whose vagina smelled of a fish factory. Rule 4, be ready and willing to answer to any command.

Mira smirked at the obedient woman before her, she stopped undressing herself and beckoned her plaything towards her.

"Come undress me."

When she came within arms reach, Mira ran her hands over Sona's body. When she first took the woman away from her previous work, it was just to satisfy her voyeur habits. To watch someone get off, and to step in right afterwards.

Mira ran her hands over the soft skin of her shoulders, thumbs lightly caressing the prominent nipples as they made the way down her sides.

Sona reached around her mistress, unclasping the bra, allowing to fall on top of the white blouse she had taken off already.

Miras hands came back up to the sex workers shoulders and gently pushed her to kneel before her.

Sona had been with Mira for a while now, so she knew the drill, her hands came up to unbutton the jeans and slide them down the slender legs of the Yakuza woman.

"Good girl. So obedient." Mira hummed her approval of the quick response.

Mira watched as the other woman laced her fingers under the band of her panties and slowly pulled them down as well.

Sona had been trained by Mira herself on how to do her job the way she liked it. Her hips swayed as she walked, her touches were soft and sensual whenever possible, her kisses soft and submissive, her tongue nimble.

Stepping out of her panties and jeans, Mira eyed the woman still kneeling, waiting for her next command.

Walking over to the chair in the living room and sitting in it, Mira spread her legs, and beckoned Sona over again with one hand, the other spreading the shaven lips between her legs with the other.

She was wound up from thinking of the times she had with Keitaro, and needed release.

As Sona started, her face buried between her mistresses' legs, Mira shared the plan that was starting to form in her mind.

"Sona, my dear slut, you and I are mmmmmmm-leaving for Kyoto in a few days."

The only thing that told Mira that the words were heard, was the slight pause in the tongue gliding over her clit, before continuing.

As her climax was slowly building, she gave Sona a bit to look forward to.

"Soon… mmmmm you and I will both be able to be fucked silly. As mmmmuch as we want, as hard as we want. We'll have Kei-baby all to ourselves again."

When the name left Miras lips, Sonas head shot up and wide mismatched eyes were looking into Miras brown.

Mira smirked as she grabbed Sona by the hair and pulled her face back down to the task at hand.

Mira may have a mild sex addiction, but she was _very_ selective about men. Women she was quite the opposite. She would take a woman into bed no matter her race, size, or religion.

But the men had to be up to a certain standard to get more than one shot.

Ever since Keitaro had forced his way out, she'd only had two others inside her, compared to the near hundred women she'd slept with this in the same time frame.

Mira arched her back as her breath came in ragged gasps, her hands puling Sona as close to her core as possible during her climax. When she had finished, Sona sat back up and stared at the sated woman.

"You've been such a good girl, that I think you deserve a reward. When you help me get him back, you can have him anytime you want as long as he sees to me first." Mira said as she leaned forward and caressed the womans face.

Sona sat there, her drug haze low enough at the moment that she could recall the experience she had with the man in question.

She understood why Mira was so obsessed with having him. Of all the men she'd had to sleep with, none had compared to young Urashima. He had been so young at the time, that she could only imagine how much better he would be now.

The thought sent a tingle from her chest to her core.

"If my mistress wishes for my assistance, then my mistress will have it." Sona answered obediently.

The way she was treated now, was much better than when first coming to serve Mira.

Until Sona learned the exact way that Mira liked to be attended to, there were beatings, being deprived of food, being forced to urinate or defecate on herself.

Once she had learned the tricks of the trade though, it was much better. She had as much food as she wanted. She always had a slight high to keep her coasting, enough to keep the withdrawals away, but not enough to take away her presence of mind.

As far as how a person fully under the control of a Yakuza sex trade, Sona had it pretty damn good.

"Good. Come along. I have a new plug for you to test. If we're to get our Kei-baby back, we might have to use some…back door…methods fufufu."

 **-LineBreak-**

Motoko walked towards the kitchen, where Shinobu had called for her. Apparently someone had called to speak to her.

Only two people would ever do such a thing, neither were options she was thrilled about.

It was either her sister, or her mother. Both were women of the strongest caliber she could imagine. No _man_ could stand up to them and expect to leave unscathed.

The young chef gave her usual shy smile as the phone was passed from one to the other.

"Motoko speaking."

-Ah, my dearest daughter. How are you?-

Motoko felt her body stop all movement, even her breathing halted. Almost as if thinking, that if she didn't move her mother would think she hadn't just spoken into the phone and hang up.

-Now now dear, its not polite to ignore your mother like that.-

"Apologies Okaa-sama. I am well."

Motoko wanted to keep this conversation to its minimum, offering only short and to the point answers while not returning the gesture would surely end this sooner.

-Good Good. I understand that you are busy between your studies and keeping up with your training, so I shall keep this brief.-

Motoko could almost hear the smile that her mother had plastered on her face. That never led to anything good. The Aoyama Matriarch was a schemer of the worst order, probably a result of being as powerful as she was. Motoko knew of how Hina was revered for her unassuming strength, and held that same quality.

It made her wonder if the two had ever met before.

'Hopefully not. I am uncertain the world could survive the ensuing prank.' She thought.

-I have just returned from the latest mission, and have returned home. The latest developments here in Kyoto are most splendid, and I wish to share the upcoming event with you.-

Her breath was becoming harder and harder to draw in, her mother never spoke this long winded, unless it was something bad. But then, why did she sound so happy with whatever was happening?

-Our dear Tsuruko-chan will be getting married next month! And I would like you to be here for the ceremony.-

The world stopped turning, the oxygen in the air evaporated. She could have sworn that her heart stopped beating, as the news was delivered to her.

"What?" Her voice came out far too weak to her liking.

How could her sister do this?! Men were vile, evil! They wanted nothing but the pleasure derived from subjecting women to their foul lust filled desires.

How could some weak, spineless _man_ corrupt her sister so much that she would agree to such a thing?!

The door of the dorm opened, and in walked Granny with a clearly inebriated Kitsune, and a slightly buzzed Haruka.

-I said that Tsuruko will be getting married, and I want you here to celebrate it with us! Oh how I can't wait to see the looks on her and Keitaro's face when I tell them!-

"Keitaro?" She mumbled.

The name sounded so familiar for some reason, yet she couldn't place it. She knew once the shock wore off, it would come back to her.

Once it did, she would be sure to plan this vile mans demise!

She missed the way that Granny Hina and Haruka perked up at hearing the name from her right.

-Oh yes indeed. They aren't aware that i've had the elders watching them for the past few weeks. I've been told that their Ki blends together subconsciously! How wonderful that is! I hope you're prepared to be an Aunt! I thought for sure that the arrangement between them all those years ago was never going to be fulfilled! Hina will no doubt be pleased as well.-

Motoko dropped the phone, and slumped against the wall.

She didn't know what to think of what she'd just heard.

Her own mother had apparently been conspiring to marry Tsuruko off…and Granny Hina had known about it. As much as she would like to solely blame this male…she couldn't. To coerce both Granny Hina and her own mother was near impossible. Those two women were masters of their own arts, and not susceptible to mediocre forces.

So…..why?

As Motoko was lost in her thoughts, she missed Hina picking up the phone, speaking a few words, and then cackling like a mentally unstable person. And when she whispered a few words to Haruka, the tea shop owner let out a barrage of curses as she stomped out and down to her own home.

"It may be a bit premature Motoko-chan. But welcome to the family!"

 **END!**

 **Muwahahahahaha I have returned! with the one ring to rule them all! I forget the wedding ring is even there half the time.**

 **Anyways, sounds like some major shit is gonna hit in Kyoto huh? Heh heh….**

 **About Mira, she's an obsessive and mildly sex addicted woman.**

 **Next chapter will have much more Kanako. And then we get into Keitaros meeting with the adoption people.**

 **I've looked this over a few times, and can't seem to find a better way to convey the things I wanted to.**

 **Onto other things! Later!**


	5. A challenge

**This chapter, along with the next 2, were originally part of the same...but 27,000 words is too much for 1 chapter. Look for A/N at the end of chp7**

Keitaro wiped the building sweat from his brow, before returning to his task.

The day hadn't been all that hot, but his tasks today had been more physically demanding than the usual.

He was laying new flooring in one of the student areas, then replacing a rusted pipe in the main house before it ruptured and damaged the surrounding wood. How this place stayed in its near pristine state without a full time maintenance person was beyond him.

It felt as though he'd replaced half of the inner workings of almost every building here so far.

Twisting the screwdriver one last time, Keitaro twisted the handle of the doorknob he'd finished installing. Seeing everything was in order, he stood and patted the dirt from his knees.

Looking over the grounds, Keitaro saw the sun starting to make its descent towards the horizon. The end of his work day was quickly approaching.

Keitaro was looking forward to getting cleaned up, and seeing what Kanako had gotten up to today. Today was Sunday, so there were no lessons being taught, leaving the Aoyama compound fairly quiet and barren. Tsuruko had volunteered to watch over her, due to the absence of other things to do.

He was fairly certain that she'd never offer to do it again, once she saw how Kanako could go from 0 to 100 in a split second, only to switch topics a few minutes later with the same intensity.

Normally, the tasks Keitaro had done, would have waited until tomorrow. But tomorrow was the day he would meet with whoever would be handling his adoption of Kanako.

That thought was both exciting, and terrifying. If everything went well, he would finally be free of the worry she could be taken away from him so easily.

Keitaro turned and started to make his way towards the garden, where he had seen them last, after collecting the necessary tools for his duties.

The path stretching near the southern edge of the maintained lands, was a pond that Keitaro had started to enjoy as a place to catch a few moments alone with his thoughts.

A couple patches of reeds sticking from the water swayed in the breeze. Keitaro stopped on his walk to let the wind cool him. His eyes closed as he enjoyed this peaceful moment.

Keitaro felt a brief tickle in the back of his mind, before it was gone. He would have written it off as nothing, if his surroundings didn't feel suddenly silent.

Opening his eyes, Keitaro glanced around, a useless attempt at trying to discern the cause.

His surroundings didn't look any different, but they certainly _felt_ different.

The breeze could no longer be felt sweeping across his skin. The sun didn't transfer its warmth. The birds could no longer be heard chirping.

That brief tickle he'd felt a few moments ago came back with a vengeance. Now acknowledging its presence, it spread from his head, to his neck and through the rest of his body.

He recognized it for the primal instinct it was.

Something that every animal on earth knew to listen to. The danger sense.

The feeling that pain and death were near.

It was at that moment, when Keitaro already knew something bad was approaching, that he heard it.

A scream. A scream from someone etched into the very fabric of his being.

Hearing it made Keitaro stop breathing for a moment, before setting out in a full sprint towards the garden.

"No. No no no no no nonononono." He couldn't deny what his ears, his entire body was telling him with utmost clarity.

Kanako was in danger, and she needed him.

That sound was so different from its owners usual exuberance. Not even the fear laced whimpers of having their fathers hands wrapped around Kanakos throat brought such panic to him.

Just as quickly as the world had seemed to abandon him, Keitaro felt the nature around him seem to burst forth at his back.

The breeze didn't change into gale force winds, instead feeling as though it were helping to guide him through the fastest path to her.

The sun didn't burn hotter, but felt as though it were illuminating everything around him, ridding the area of all shadows.

When not prepared, Keitaro wasn't much more than what he appeared, a well built young adult with too much on his plate.

But when he felt there was a threat nearby, He was neigh unstoppable.

The excess ki circuits in his body allowing him to be both an immovable object, and an unstoppable force. Pulling in energy from the nature surrounding him almost as fast as he could put it to use.

It was this fact, that made his mother and grandmother so adamant that he learn control from such a young age.

Left to his own devices, Keitaro could have caused great harm unintentionally, possibly even killing someone.

There was only ever one area that Keitaro had mastered. Defense.

Taking a blow head on, or using it to his own advantage was his specialty.

The trees he'd run passed gave way to the clearing of the garden.

He hadn't noticed when it happened, but Keitaro had as much of his ki as his body could handle at any one moment, ready to be put to use.

Every sense felt amplified as the reds, blues, whites, and greens of the various flowers came into view. But he ignored the over saturation of his vision in favor of the two figures standing nearly 30 feet away from him, in the center of the garden.

Clothed in a dark green he figured was meant to blend into the forestry, Keitaro took in the mismatched height of the ones eyeing him.

To the left, and on one knee, was a taller figure he'd guess was approaching 6 feet tall. Lean, lanky, and _very_ clearly female.

To the right, already in a stance to defend their person, Keitaro had a hard time noting the gender. This one was short, probably only reaching up to his chin, and of a broader build.

'One for speed, one for power.' He thought.

The clothes they wore wrapped around the entirety of their bodies, leaving nothing uncovered except for their eyes, in a material that looked hand woven.

After giving them a brief glance, Keitaro took note of something else.

"Where is she?" His voice was hard, cold, promising pain if he was denied of his query.

Neither Kanako nor Tsuruko were here in the garden.

The only thing that even suggested they'd been here recently, was the black cat plushy left on the bench.

'Kanako hardly ever lets that thing out of her sight. She'd never leave it lying there.'

The taller figure stood and turned to face him, neither saying anything.

After a few seconds of silence, Keitaro nearly _exploded_ in rage.

" **WHERE IS SHE?!** "

 **-LineBreak-**

For the first time in a long while, Tsuruko was tired. Not from a lack of sleep, but from the sheer amount of energy it took to keep up with Kanako.

'Where does this energy come from? She does not produce Ki at a level where she could tap into it…Nor the knowledge.'

Tsuruko felt she had just stumbled upon a mystery that even the worlds greatest scholars would fail to find an answer to.

Keitaro had been coming up with a way to both monitor his sis-…..Daughter? Sister? Their relationship at the moment was in a sort of horrible limbo.

The excitable young girl referred to him as her father, and a judge had given him temporary custody, so she supposed daughter was the correct term.

He'd been trying to think of a way to monitor his _daughter_ , and meet with the ones coming to meet him, when she stumbled upon him after midnight last night.

The way he jumped when she placed her hands upon his shoulders, kneading away at the very tense muscles, still brought a smile to her face.

She had nearly squealed in happiness at the way he absolutely _melted_ under her efforts. The happiness she felt might have been multiplied by the few glasses of wine she'd had.

Nevertheless, it warmed her heart to see him accept her touch so readily.

She had been trying to breach the subject of their relationship, or lack thereof, for the two weeks since that shopping trip.

It confused even herself, how quickly she had become attached to him.

Was it how he held himself? How he doted on Kanako? There was a very real science to be discovered in researching a womans reaction to a man who cared for a child as he did. She'd already seen stars in at least 4 womens eyes from watching him and Kanako.

Tsuruko didn't think it was his Ki, as she hadn't fully experienced it until after he'd started working for her family.

By the point she'd let her mental barriers fall around him, Keitaro was already a frequent thought on her mind. She had wanted to know more about him, experience more with him.

The thought of pursuing him romantically had only been more frequent since that first time she hugged him after dinner.

But after their energies had so easily melded together, it was nearly all she could think about. Her duties as headmistress seemed to pale in comparison, when the chance of spending more time with Keitaro was the alternative.

Once her mother had returned home, Chiharu Aoyama had thoroughly questioned her on the new employee walking the grounds.

The normally passive woman had apparently wanted to gossip on how she met the pair. The glint in her mothers eye during that conversation was never something to underestimate.

Hopefully though, whatever the devious woman had planned, wouldn't be too bad. She could only imagine that was the reason Keitaro and Kanako had not met her yet.

Her thoughts were digressing rather rapidly again….What was she thinking about?

'You cloud my mind in such wonderful ways Kei.' Tsuruko thought to herself with a sigh.

Thats right! It was about the things Kanako and herself had already done, and how to keep the girl occupied for just a bit longer until Keitaro was freed from his tasks.

Starting as early as he did, Tsuruko had merely waited while Kanako slept, poor girl was about in tears when he wasn't there to go through the usual morning rituals together.

Breakfast, a walk around the grounds, a game of simon says, and a race that Tsuruko lost on purpose later, and it had already been lunch time.

After a game of tag that lasted just about 3 hours, they sat and just started talking.

Tsuruko was surprised by how deep their conversation had gotten. It also revealed a bit of unexpected information.

"Tsuruko-san, do you have a mom?" The question had come point blank.

'Where is this coming from?' She thought, thinking the girls mind was still on her favorite candies.

"Yes Kana-chan. She lives here, but she goes to other places very frequently, so I don't get to see her very often." She'd answered honestly, believing that children were more able to take harder concepts then was usually thought.

Kanako had shown a clear understanding of the fact that she was adopted. And that Keitaro was in that same process now.

"I wish I could remember mine." Kanako answered sadly, pulling her knees to her chest as they sat on the ground in the garden together.

"I asked daddy about her one time. I didn't mean to make him sad, I just wanted to know what she was like… I didn't know it was her birthday." Kanako whispered the last bit, nearly hiding it from Tsuruko.

The swordswoman felt for her. To not remember her own mother, was a horrible thing to be deprived of.

Although, it may have been a small blessing. If she had no memories of the woman who had adopted her, that would include her spiral into sickness and death. Keitaro was not as fortunate.

"I'm sure he doesn't blame you Kana-chan, your daddy just misses her, that's all."

That was as apparent as an airplane in a parking lot. Tsuruko regretted asking him, why his mother wasn't in the picture.

 _"Stage 4 ovarian cancer."_ Was his simple reply. And then, she didn't ask anymore on the subject.

"What brought this on Kana-chan?" Tsuruko asked, as her companion for the day tried to hold back the sniffles she was quietly making.

Tsuruko leaned over, and rubbed the young girls back soothingly, hoping to make her feel better. She felt incredibly awkward, having never been in a position that should really be left for a parent.

Kanako wiped her eyes of the tears that hadn't fully materialized.

"Daddy should be happy. He always helps me or plays with me anytime I ask. I just want to help him be happy, like he makes me. I thought that when we came here, he wouldn't be scared of those mean people anymore."

The atmosphere between them was heavier than Tsuruko had expected an 8 year old to be able to produce. Kanako had never shown a negative emotion in front of her before, other than the day Tsuruko met them.

"What mean people Kanako-chan?"

Keitaro had alluded to the fact, that his father had been involved with some nefarious people, but she'd never pried about it. Perhaps the girl could shed some light.

"I don't know who they are. But I remember daddy had to hurt some of them, cause they wanted to take me away, and have him work for them again." The girl said with a shake of her head.

A part of her mind was saying that this was the reason that Kei had been so reluctant to get closer to her. Even though Tsuruko wanted to get as much info from Kanako as possible on this subject, she felt a change and some comfort was needed.

"Are you happy here Kana-chan?" She said as soothingly as she could, still rubbing the girls back.

Kanako nodded with a smile. Tsuruko smiled back.

"Good. Because I really like having you and your daddy here. I promise that no one will hurt you or take you away while you're here. Not if I have anything to say about it."

It felt a bit weird to be saying the word _daddy._ She had come across a few men during the months prior to meeting the Urashima pair, that had been rather forthcoming in their….sexual preferences.

The use of that word would never be same for her.

Every time Tsuruko thought of their family name, she couldn't help but wonder, if it was the same family she knew of.

'There's no way. Hina-sama and Haruka-chan would never leave family to fend for themselves like this.'

But whenever she looked at Keitaro, she felt like it _had_ to be the same Urashimas. Brown hair and light brown eyes. The facial structure.

Come to think of it, the mother of her long lost friend had died of the same cause. The attending of that funeral, was what led to the talks of Motoko going to stay at the Hinata-sou, rather than somewhere in Kyoto.

The urge to find out more was too much now.

"Kanako-chan, why don't we go get some ice cream inside? I'd like to learn more about you and Kei."

As the pair walked off, Kanako had forgotten her favorite stuffed animal. Neither had noticed the two figures walk into the garden as they left.

 **-LineBreak-**

The sheer exhaustion that would surely follow giving Kanako ice cream with strawberry syrup, was worth it in her opinion.

Tsuruko had gently pried into anything and everything Kanako could remember. Her likes, dislikes. Anything she could recall from their past.

She was now all but certain that Keitaro Urashima was related to Hina and Haruka.

Kanako hadn't been able to recall names, but she had mentioned a short white haired elderly woman that she vaguely remembered seeing once, at some point a long time ago.

Keitaro had told his little sister of a strong and caring woman, a little older than him, that wanted to travel the world. Using what was obviously Haruka, as the main character of stories, to teach her how to handle being in different situations.

Tsuruko was now feeling as though she had skipped a few steps in trying to establish a relationship with Keitaro.

There was obviously a mutual respect, and attraction. Their resonance could not have happened otherwise. But now she saw that she knew almost nothing about his past or family.

Until she had made the connection with his last name, Tsuruko assumed that he hadn't spoken of any of it, because there was no other family to speak of. She didn't want to upset him by bringing up sore memories.

That was clearly a mistake.

The description that Kanako was able to give about _the mean people_ , made it clear to Tsuruko that they had been Yakuza, gangsters. People only out to use others for their own gain, in the worst possible ways.

And Keitaro had been working for them, doing spirits knows what.

But even knowing that, Tsuruko was not deterred. She knew that Keitaro had been working for a TV station for the previous 3 years before they had met. Taking that into consideration, he would have only been a teen when they had sunken their vile fangs into him.

He may have physical strength, but it was fairly easy to counter that with less than honorable actions.

'Like threatening the safety of a little girl.'

If there was one thing Tsuruko knew about Keitaro, it was that he would go through hell and back for the little one sitting across from her.

She had also learned some things to keep in mind for a later date.

Like the fact that both he and Kanako were cuddlers when they slept. For Keitaro, it seemed to be a subconscious thing, while Kanako would wake up a few times during the night, and position herself closer and closer to him.

Kanako was just about finished with her rather large bowl of ice cream when she asked something that Tsuruko hadn't given full thought to.

"Tsuruko-san, do you love daddy?"

The way children could just voice their thoughts with little to no regard for anything else, was simply amazing.

"Why do ask?" Even as she answered a question with another, Tsuruko had to ponder if her feelings _had_ developed that far.

She had admitted to being romantically interested in the man. But _love_? That was supposed to come after several months of being in a relationship, wasn't it? She wasn't sure what word to place on the feelings, but love didn't seem like the _wrong_ one.

"Asuna-chan said you were getting married, and I don't see you with any other boys. Does that mean you and daddy are gonna get married?" The hope in the girls eyes was absolutely adorable.

Clearly some of the elders had been rather loose lipped about her situation, if the students were catching wind of the goings on of the family.

Tsuruko gave Kanako a gentle smile and leaned down to be level with her.

"How do feel about that Kana-chan? Would you let me marry him?"

Kanako tapped her spoon on her chin, apparently giving the idea some serious thought, before nodding with a full smile.

"Yup! Daddy likes you a lot, I can tell!"

Tsuruko wanted to return the smile, but she felt that Kanako needed to understand what such a marriage would mean.

"Kanako. Do you understand that if I married your daddy, that would make me your mother?"

Both Kanako and Tsuruko stiffened simultaneously, a mere second after the words had left her lips, but for seemingly different reasons.

Kanako looked to the tall swordswoman with a glimmer of hope. She wanted to believe that she could feel and experience the things Asuna and Kiyo had told her about their own mothers.

Kanako loved Keitaro more than she was capable of expressing, but she still wanted to know what having a mom was like.

Tsuruko felt the world stop. All of a sudden, it was like she was in a vacuum. There was no ambient sound, no pressure from the AC regulating the temperature of her home.

And then came the _scream_.

It was distant, hardly reaching her ears. But it seemed as though the world itself wanted her to hear _it_ and nothing else at that moment.

The moment passed, and nearly a minute of silence passed between Tsuruko and Kanako before a booming voice made itself known.

 **"WHERE IS SHE?!"**

It was Keitaro, and both females heard it loud and clear.

Kanako suddenly felt extremely anxious, having never heard his voice so angry. She wanted to run to him, but at the same time she wanted to hide, and wait until he was the same caring and happy daddy she knew and loved.

The former won out, and she hopped from her stool at the kitchen island and tried to sprint for the door, but the hand of Tsuruko stopped her.

Just out of arms reach from the door, Kanako turned towards the woman with scared eyes.

Tsuruko had a serious look in her eye she'd never shown before to the pair.

"Kanako, wait here. I'll go and find out what's going on." When Kanako didn't move an inch, Tsuruko moved both of her arms on the girls shoulders.

Their eyes met, lavender and frightened stared at greyish green that were ready for anything.

"Keitaro must think something happened to you. He's scared and angry right now. I'll go and tell him that you are safe-"

Kanako shook herself free, slamming the door open and sprinting towards the irate voice.

Tsuruko was so surprised by her actions, that it took a few seconds to register what had happened.

Shaking her head, she made to follow Kanako towards the garden. Somehow, Kanako had understood that Keitaro was there.

 **-LineBreak-**

The taller figure lunged towards him, right hand drawing a small blade from the back.

It was just as he'd thought, the taller one was faster, and would attack first, giving the smaller and stronger one time to move in and make their move.

The small dagger was swept from its sheath on their back and in an upward slash with a reverse grip.

Keitaro, already prepared to defend himself, leaned slightly back and to the right, his left hand coming to grip the wrist of his attacker.

The slash was stopped as he put pressure directly on the tendons, getting the figure to drop the blade. He put more force into digging into his opponents wrist, making them let out a groan of discomfort.

His right foot moved back, letting him get more moment into the punch he was about to deliver to his captives temple.

Just about to let the swing surge forward, the smaller figure had moved and been about to deliver an attack of their own, a kick aim at his stomach.

Forced to let go, the taller one stumbled, moving into a formation with their partner.

"Tell me where Kanako is, and I let you walk away." Keitaro demanded.

But again, he got no response.

It had been a few years since anyone had even appeared to be a challenge to him. His physical encounters had been mostly with petty thugs after leaving his old job. They hadn't been anything that required more than 30 seconds of his time from start to finish.

Even as enraged as he was, Keitaro recognized a skilled fighter when he saw or felt one.

These two were no novices. They were a skilled duo, used to working together without speaking.

But one mistake would be all it would take, to be their downfall.

The shorter one moved first this time, both hands raised in a boxers stance as they came forward, giving no indication as to which limb would deliver the attack.

The stutter in the taller figure in the background told Keitaro this would be a feint, as a flat handed strike started coming towards his trachea.

Keitaro stepped to the right, just outside the attack, preparing to take down these two quickly.

Ready to make his move, Keitaro stepped inside the range of his opponent. Left hand straight and ready.

Pivoting the left side of his body back, the enemy strike barely met the edge of his shoulder.

Keitaro thrust his left hand towards his opponents neck, something he knew was telegraphed and could be countered.

As he thought, the short figure tried to lean back, and out of range. But instead of trying to make the blow connect, Ketiaro bent his elbow in, pinching the forearm there as his hand grabbed onto the shoulder.

With his weight already being supported by his right foot, his left swept behind his attackers and planted itself on the ground. Then he twisted and pushed.

Realizing too late what was happening, the person could do nothing to stop from being knocked off their feet. The motion of his turn made them spin around, sending them face first towards the ground.

The tall figure rushed him, drawing a kunai to be used as a knife. Either this person had underestimated him, didn't know he was here, or was gauging his strength.

No matter what the answer to this question was, Keitaro was _not_ in the mood.

Kanako was missing, The rest of the world could burn for all he cared.

Giving a last push on his captive, the shorter opponent fell face first, as the immediate threat became the tall one once more.

It was a horizontal slash this time, as the other face planted harshly to the pavement, blood splattering from an impact of nose to cement.

This person was probably expecting Keitaro to arch his abdomen backwards, halting his momentum, but he was no novice.

Keitaro moved with the direction of the slash, stepping to the side of his attacker. His left hand, the direction the attack was coming from, switched to a reverse grip.

He twisted and turned, grabbing the tall ones forearm in his left hand, his posture moving as if he were swing a sledgehammer.

As the short made to stand, the tall one had their back meet concrete harshly. A crack of bone, a feminine groan of pain met his ears.

At least for the moment, Keitaro was down to one opponent, but still had no answers.

"I'll ask…One. More. Time." His voice was a whisper, but carried as if the wind itself were his instrument.

"Where's Kanako?"

His brown eyes bored into the short statured being across from him, swaying uneasily from the nose breaking impact of moments before.

The blood dripping down the garments was the least of their worries.

If they refused to answer him, Keitaro would show them pain on a level that they'd never known.

The person must have misjudged his position, possibly having doubled vision from pain. He/She rushed to his right side with a speed they hadn't shown before, an uppercut planned to meet his jaw.

Keitaro counted himself lucky that their previous attacks had left him at an advantage. If this one had shown that speed when both were up and ready, he might have been pressed a little more.

As it was, Keitaro was able to deliver a strike to disable the apparent dominant arm of the melee combatant.

'Enforce.' The mental command channeled an abundance of his ki into his left fist.

The opponents swing was over 8 inches off from the desired mark, and Keitaro capitalized on it.

Grabbing the fist, Keitaro pulled, keeping their arm locked in a straight position, his left hand coming for an uppercut.

Right at the elbow.

Ki infused punch, met an unprepared joint. It creaked, it popped, and it shattered. The arm bent at an unnatural angle.

The short one also turned out to be female, as the shrieks of pain bellowed throughout the air, as a broken limb was cradled for comfort.

Keitaro stepped back, ready to deliver more, when a young voice delivered sweet relief to his mental agony.

"Daddy!"

It was Kanako, he heard her calling, as she ran towards him from around the corner of buildings a hundred feet away.

He wanted to turn towards her voice… _By God_ did he ever want to.

But these women, they were a threat to her. They were a threat to her safety, to her happiness, something he couldn't allow to walk these grounds.

Why hadn't anyone else stopped them? Wasn't the Gods cry school among the top martial arts schools around?

Keitaro threw out his brief pondering, they didn't matter.

What mattered was his little girl. Sister…Daughter, the term didn't matter. She was _his_ to protect.

Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Kanako come running, unscathed and clearly upset. Shit.

What did he do now?

Did he comfort her? Or should he tell her to stay back? One on one, these women were nothing to him, as they had learned.

But that didn't mean that they wouldn't try again, once he was occupied with Kanako.

"Kanako-chan, come back!" Then the voice of Tsuruko came around the corner.

He gave a slight sigh of relief, hearing her voice.

While not as prevalent, he had wondered if she was okay as well. In his mind, Keitaro had pictured Tsuruko being caught off guard and overwhelmed by these two.

It was a ludicrous thought, but there all the same. How else could two intruders get to her? Unless the swordswoman had been in on it….

Keitaro was about to stop Kanako, one hand out to the side open palmed, when a new and authoritative voice entered.

"STOP!"

Tsuruko came to a skidding halt on the ground, recognizing the voice. Kanako didn't, speeding her way towards Keitaro with reckless abandon. Keitaro let his eyes shift over to where the yell had come from, while wondering how he hadn't been able to tell anyone was in that direction.

A fairly short, and slightly hunched forward woman came into view from the tree line.

Keitaro recognized her almost immediately, having seen her face on pictures in the main house.

Raven hair with strands of silver, grey-green eyes, similar to the ones he saw everyday.

Chiharu Aoyama, the current head of the Aoyama family.

The woman was dressed in the typical training gear that everyone else could be seen in. She walked with what appeared to be a well made cane, without an appropriate handle.

As Chiharu took another step, moving said cane along with her, Keitaro saw the separation of material, and the steel gleam underneath. She had fashioned a sword to double as her crutch, leaving her seemingly unarmed to any would-be attackers.

Kanako barreled into Keitaros leg, clutching it tightly, wide eyes staring up at him.

"Okaa-sama, what is the meaning of this?" Tsuruko demanded, as Keitaro stroked the hair of the girl attached to him. It was to comfort her, and reassure himself, that she was here and safe.

Chiharu walked to the women that had attacked Keitaro, briefly checking over their wounds, before regarding anyone else.

She smiled over towards her daughter, who was standing behind Keitaro.

"A test dear, it was merely a test." Chiharu said easily, as if there hadn't been an implied kidnapping, or threat of fatal injury.

"A test that has lead to two of our members being injured, Okaa-sama! Surely something less extreme could have been done to determine Kei's abilities." Tsuruko retorted, as she recognized the two figures that Keitaro had injured.

Jasmine Hiragi and her cousin Orie, both women were fairly radical in their distaste for weakness. If Keitaro was to be tested, before becoming an instructor, it would be no surprise to see one or both of them being the ones to administer it.

"They will be given the proper medical care. They each knew of the risks, and accepted them." Chiharu glared at the two women, who were still nursing the effects of the brief fight.

"The way in which they provoked Urashima-san, however, was not something that had been discussed. Nor were the actions they were about to take."

 **-LineBreak-**

Motoko kept her eyes peeled, ready for yet another scoundrel to toss out onto the beach. It was apparently family tradition, one the residents had taken up, to spend the summer at the Seaside Hinata Cafe.

While being by the ocean breeze was nice, Motoko did not appreciate being told to be in a swimsuit while they were working. She had enough of men staring at her, while in her school uniform, showing more skin had only added to it.

She had been named the guardian of the wait staff, a duty she took delight in. Her position near the door, gave her a good view over the entire place.

Motoko had her work cut out for her, thanks to a few of the others. Kistune kept flirting with the customers, causing more than one order to meet the floor. Naru hadn't been actively causing a problem, but her figure had drawn the same amount of trouble, without purposely inciting the attention.

The swordswoman was surprised to see the amount of attention that Haruka drew, even with as little as she was in open view. The tea shop owner was no doubt a good looking woman, but Motoko had anticipated the younger girls to catch all of the leers.

Perhaps once an hour, the Urashima woman would saunter out from the kitchen when the others were busy, a tray of food in one hand to be delivered.

This time, Haruka came over to her, looking like she needed a break after the lunch rush.

A lighter seemed to materialize in her hand, igniting the ever present cigarette between her lips. The first exhale made Motoko cringe, the smell of tar and carcinogens was unpleasant.

Haruka leaned against the doorway to the sandy beach, eyeing the water with a reminiscent look in her eye.

Not much of a fan of small talk herself, Motoko kept quietly observing. She imagined that there were plenty of family memories of this place, though she had no way of knowing what special moment Haruka was recalling.

Whatever it was, Motoko was growing more and more curious. She watched as the woman tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, as the sun beamed down on her.

The aura that Haruka just about always emitted, was solid and sturdy. Watching her now, Motoko felt that aura soften. What she sensed went from hard as stone, to feather soft, easily able to be taken with the breeze.

The moment was there and gone in a flash, as Haruka went back to being the stern and stoic shop owner.

"We're closing up for tonight Motoko-san." Haruka said, taking the last drag of her cigarette, and walking back to the kitchen.

Motoko nodded, stepping over to flip the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'.

She didn't quite understand why, as the dinner hours were the biggest profits to be made in a day, but certainly wouldn't argue with the decision. She could use that free time, for some training that she was supposed to do upon waking.

If she ever wanted to be a good leader for her family school, Motoko needed to keep with her training.

"I had hoped that the beach would brighten her up a bit." A familiar voice startled her.

Motoko jumped back, making to unsheathe her sword that she left back at the dorm.

Standing there, two manilla envelops in hand, was Granny Hina. The old woman watched Haruka knowingly, giving out a tired sigh.

Motoko tried to will her rapidly beating heart to slow back down, after seeing the culprit of her jump scare.

"Is Haruka-San feeling ill?" She asked, taking deep breaths in through her nose, gently letting them out through her mouth.

Motoko hadn't noticed anything, but knew that smokers were more prone to things like bronchitis. Perhaps Haruka was just hiding it well.

Granny Hina nodded sadly.

"It is more of a metaphysical illness, but yes. When the heart aches, the body follows."

'Heartache?' Motoko thought. So Haruka was experiencing emotional pain then? She had never seen Haruka with any man for an extended period of time, or mention one for that matter. A few brief and strange encounters with Seta was all she could recall.

"If she desires Seta-san that much, she should not push him aside the next time they meet." Motoko would never understand the draw towards any male. But she supposed it was necessary for life to continue, and she had come to trust the air headed professors intentions towards her fellow residents.

"Seta?" Granny questioned with an amused look, before laughing quite loudly, getting a few looks from the customers.

"Oh no, dear, it isn't him. Poor Noriyasu-kun never stood a chance in getting her heart." Granny wiped an amused tear from her eye.

That statement confused Motoko, as Granny Hina had said on one occasion that Seta was her first real boyfriend, even if it was only for a brief time. She idly heard someone among the last customers ask to thank the chef for their food.

"This young man is much more precious to her, even after being apart for so long." Granny finished.

Normally, Motoko was not one to pry into someones personal life. But if Haruka was seeking someone, that would bring said person close to her home, and her friends. Their protection was her utmost priority.

"I know that Haruka-san is more than capable of protecting herself, but is this male trustworthy?" Motoko asked seriously, not falling into the infectious laugh that Hina had.

Granny straightened, as if proud of what she was about to say. Her eyes glinted from the light above.

"I trust him with everything. My life, my family, my property, and even your well being."

The weight of those words was very telling. Motoko rose an eyebrow, wondering just who this person was, as Hina went on her way.

'For someone as experienced as Granny Hina to give such praise…This person must be well accomplished in life.' She thought, resuming her post.

"Haruka-chan!" An enthusiastic male voice reached her ears.

"Fancy seeing you here. Your beauty never fails to leave me breathless." Motoko looked over towards the back seats, and saw two young men about college age.

While both wore glasses, and had longer hair pulled back, one was thin and the other rather…rotund.

The leaner one was finishing up his meal, trying to hide the fact that he was eyeing up every girl in the cafe.

'Disgusting' Motoko thought. This was the exact reason she despised men. Their carnal desires are the only thing that lead them through life, she believed.

His eyes were lingering on the backside of Naru walking back to the kitchen with a stack of plates.

"That bikini looks amazing on you!" Her attention was brought back to the repulsive male duo.

While Motoko didn't disagree, Haruka was a perfect image of healthy and fit femininity, such an emphatic display of his intentions was horribly inappropriate.

"Get out." Haruka growled, clenching a fist, while the other went to light her cancer stick. Her eyes narrowed threateningly towards her hopeful future boyfriend.

The young man was undeterred, as his friend got up, leering in the direction of Kitsune talking to Shinobu. If he even uttered a single word to the young girl, her vengeance would be upon him. She may not have her sword, but her attacks could be channeled through a butter knife just as well.

The chubby man got onto one knee, pulling a bouquet of roses from nowhere.

"Please Haru-chan, one date. Give me a chance to show you, that I can be what you want."

The thin one had just gotten into range of her two fellow residents, when Haruka turned her attention towards the fox.

"Kitsune!" Haruka barked, startling the gambler.

"You have that picture I told you to get rid of, don't you?"

To her surprise, Kitsune actually looked ashamed of holding onto something that might be used as later blackmail. But she nodded, reaching into her cleavage, even as the thin one watched her top shift and uncover more flesh with baited breath, obviously hoping her breasts would spill out into open view.

Kitsune tossed the polaroid with ease towards Haruka, it spun with the accuracy of a professional, and was caught between the thumb and index of an angry Urashima.

Her cigarette burned quickly between her lips. Haruka grabbed the man by the collar with one hand, shoving the picture close to his face with the other.

"I've told you…time and time again, i'm not interested." She wiggled the picture in front of him.

"That's because i'm taken, you dolt! I have been in love with the same person since I was 12 years old. You _have_ never, and _will_ never, be anything close to him. Now stop stalking me before I get a restraining order."

Haruka tossed him to the side, stomping off to vigorously clean the kitchen, in order to calm herself.

When Motoko started towards the thin one, he noticed her narrowed gaze, and was quick to grab his friend and get out of there.

Once things had calmed down, Motoko had to wonder….Just who this mystery man was, to keep her heart firmly in his grasp for so long.


	6. Drunken Declaration

Tsuruko tilted her head in confusion, as a buzzing sound reached her ears. She was in her bedroom, looking over some clothing options to go and visit Keitaro, then give him the notice of his new position and wage.

Today had been a strange day indeed. She quite enjoyed spending time with Kanako, and had learned quite a bit. She hoped tomorrow to be more calm and predictable.

Tsuruko turned around from her closet, looking towards her desk, where that buzzing was coming from. She pulled open the wooden drawer, and saw the device causing it.

She had completely forgotten that she even _had_ a cell phone, as the only person she talked to, with any sort of frequency, was her little sister. Motoko only called the home line, because she knew it by heart, and disliked cell phones to a great degree.

The device was aging poorly, she noticed as she picked it up, disconnecting it from the charger strung through the desk. How did a device seem to get sticky, when it never left the confines of these walls?

The small screen on the flip device lit up with a series of unknown numbers. It was getting rather late, so she had no idea who could be calling at this hour.

It was likely to be someone calling the wrong number. She opened the phone, on the chance that it was someone she knew.

"Hello, Tsuruko Aoyama speaking." She said, the speaker placed against her ear.

Her cellular device seemed to be failing, as the speaker hummed unpleasantly.

"Why're you doin this to me Tsu-han?" The voice was female, and slurred. Whoever this was, had clearly been hitting the bottle pretty hard tonight. At least she knew it wasn't a wrong number, based on the name used.

Until further information was gained, she would ignore whatever accusation this person was making.

"I apologize, but could you tell me who this is? Either we have a bad connection, or my phone is failing, I can't hear you that well." She spoke politely.

Tsuruko turned around to go over her apparel. This was a happy occasion, and she wanted to dress up a bit and celebrate.

Keitaro had seemed to like her red dress from the night they met, so that was one option.

"H-r-k Ura-ma." The phone crackled in her ear, only giving her part of the response.

Tsuruko closed her eyes, tilting her head back, as she tried to fill in the blank.

She'd met many people thanks to her martial arts status. When that list was crossed with who she could think of, that might have this number, the list became quite short.

In fact, only one came to mind, whose name was anywhere close to the jargon she heard.

"Haruka-chan?" Her voice brightened. It had been a long time since they'd spoken privately, the last of which had not gone over very well.

"Yea.."

For a moment, Tsuruko forgot what it was she was doing, in favor of catching up with her old friend.

"Its wonderful to hear from you again!"

"Cut the Shit Tsuruko!" Suddenly the voice of Haruka was clear and almost sober.

Tsuruko flinched from the volume, her hand pausing as it went for a white dress.

"Haru-chan…Are you upset with me for some reason?" Tsuruko didn't know what she could have done to deserve such a hostile tone from the one who'd been her best friend. They may have been considered more than that at one point…But that quickly ended after being found.

"Upset…? I could handle being upset, but not this." Haruka paused, and Tsuruko knew the tells of her friend very well. Whatever had Haruka upset, was at the brink of bringing tears.

Something that almost never happened. Haruka must have gone through quite the stock of liquor tonight.

"When mom got sick and I came back, I thought he was away at college, so I waited." Even through the static and crackling, Tsuruko heard Haruka take a shuddered breath.

"I've waited…For over 18 months, to hear from the man i'm meant to be with. How am I supposed to feel…supposed to _react,_ when I hear that he's marrying _you_?"

Her stomach sank. Of course things had to get more complicated. There was no doubt who Haruka was talking about. She was first curious as to who had said that Her and Keitaro were getting married. Then she wondered why this information had gotten so twisted.

"Haruka…Listen to me." Tsuruko spoke softly. It was a rather useful trick she'd learned about.

If you spoke softly, refrained from shouting, people would be more likely to focus on your words. Tsuruko could hear it clear as day, Haruka was crying now. Her friend hated when people saw any weakness in her.

"I only just found out that he was related to you today, from the stories Kanako-chan told me. I don't truly know why, but Kei-" She heard Haruka fail in holding back a sob at the affectionate moniker.

"Kei never talks about family. It is true the elders are being rather pushy about the two of us getting married, but nothing has happened. There's no wedding date, we're not engaged, we're not even dating. Stepping on your relationship was never my intention."

Only because Keitaro seemed to push back every time she wanted to press forward. Tsuruko now had more to consider.

Was it because of whatever gang activity he had been a part of? Or because of whatever he and Haruka had together?

The emotions of one who had indulged in too much alcohol, were always unpredictable. The lines between anger and sadness blurred, until they were almost the same thing.

"I won't give him to you Tsu-chan. Granny kept me in the dark, telling me what she thought I wanted to hear, to keep me from running to him. I'll do whatever it takes, to show Kei that I still love him. Even if that means I have to barge into the wedding, drop to my knees and suck his cock in front of everyone there."

For a moment, Tsuruko was speechless. The kiddie gloves were off, as Haruka did not make idle threats. If she said she would do something, you could be damn sure that she'd follow through.

"You know i'll do it too. I'll moan loud enough for your whole family to hear, as his cum shoots into my mouth."

So where did they go from here?

"Haru-chan…Keitaro and I… We've resonated." Which meant that no matter what either of them said, the Aoyama elder council was going to do all it could, to persuade Keitaro into marrying Tsuruko. A child born from perfect resonance had only happened once in her clans time. They were only going to get more impatient. Bolstering numbers, increasing revenue, that was what they cared about.

Tsuruko hoped, that she could reason with her friend. She wanted to be with Keitaro, and if it didn't happen, she would likely be forced to marry the next suitor to come along that seemed even close to adequate. Her timer was at zero.

"I know. Chiharu-san called a while back, saying that had happened. That's when she said that you two were getting married in a few weeks."

Tsuruko narrowed her eyes at that revelation. She loved her mother dearly, as she was among the only family members still looking out for her. But this seemed to be out of the blue, for her to switch sides like this.

"Granny told me, when Kei and Kanako-chan went on the run, that you two were up for an arranged marriage, years ago. It got cancelled because of what happened to Kei."

And there it was. Now things were starting to make more sense. The more her and Haruka spoke, the more angered each would get. They knew each other to well, for either to not realize this fact.

"There's one problem with that though. Kei and I had already resonated by that point."

Tsuruko was not much a fan of over the phone negotiations. They were at a stalemate, each of them knew. Haruka may have history, but Tusurko had him here with her.

"Haruka, are you at the Hinata-sou?"

Haruka scoffed, the sound of her swallowing something was carried over the phone.

"Why? You gonna try and get me to back off by going all alpha on me? I'm sure you remember what happened the last time you tried that."

She did indeed. That was the last time they saw each other in person. Until the tent had been opened by her uncle, that evening had been quite enjoyable and thrilling, just as the week prior had been.

"No Haru-chan, we haven't seen each other in 9 years. I believe this to be a conversation best had in person. Is it wrong, that I want to see my best friend again?"

There was a pause on the phone, then finally a clink, as a bottle was set on some sort of surface.

"Tsuruko, what did they do to you?"

Even though Haruka couldn't see it, Tsuruko gave a sad smile.

"Meeting Keitaro was merely by chance. He was also the first person i've met, outside of marriage meetings, in the last 5 years."

"Fuckin' hell Tsuruko….Fine, i'm at the beach cafe. At least tell me, what you hope to get out of this." Haruka growled, after a lengthy silence.

Tsuruko went back to her closet, changing what she was looking for. Her summer apparel was where her eyes landed. She needed to grab one to wear, and possibly one spare, just in case.

"A resolution, a plan, an agreement, anything to know how to move forward. We both know what this connection means, and the chances of finding it again.

I'm falling for him Haruka, and you know that's not something that I can afford to let go of."

A skirt, a blouse, a t-shirt, a pair of shorts, a sundress and wide brimmed hat to protect her pale skin from the summer heat, and several undergarments. She looked around for her luggage, the smaller one, since this wasn't too much. Thankfully Haruka was only a 1 hour train ride away.

"Yeah…I know." Haruka drawled, the booze starting to drag her to sleep.

She could set out early in the morning, and be back before dinner, to ask Keitaro how things went with the adoption agency.

"Haru-chan…I know we'll talk about it tomorrow, but…What happened to Kei, that broke off the agreement?"

She heard Haruka laugh quietly, which wasn't a good sign under these conditions. It was her 'you don't wanna know' laugh.

"Nothin' good Tsu-chan, i'll see you tomorrow."

 **-LineBreak-**

The burn at the back of his throat eased the frustration he felt, his hand pulled away as the smoke was inhaled.

Cigarettes were nasty things, everyone knew that. He quit several years ago, and had only craved a smoke once since then. Dodging all these bureaucratic bullet points, jumping through legal loop holes, and dealing with pestering higher-ups, had him buying an entire carton.

It was the worst snowball effect of any case he'd been on. A well-being check turns into an assault investigation, into a missing persons, then kidnapping. When it started grabbing the attention of the organized crime unit, that was where things _really_ took a turn for the worst in his opinion. He didn't know what to make of it, when IA came around.

Next thing he knew, the imperial guard and a Kyoto judge were somehow involved.

"Detective Tanaka, I still don't understand why you've been appointed to come with me."

Looking over towards the voice, the newly appointed detective shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't either. The family that owns the place, is well known around here right?"

Mio Kayde, a middle aged woman, dark brown hair with her grey roots showing that she dyed her hair. He was told that she was the most efficient at her job with the CGC(Child Guidance Center).

Somewhere along the line, she decided against being a research based psychologist. Her Masters degree in psychology, bachelors in neuroscience, and her quick mind turned her into a sort of matchmaker deity of adoptions.

She leaned her back against the wall of the hotel they had met at. She looked towards the young detective, making him feel like she could pick him apart with just a glance.

What made him more uneasy, was that is probably what she was doing right now.

"Yes, The Aoyama family has been a well known contributor to the greater Kyoto area for generations."

He'd been given info on the history of the family. It was mostly donations and volunteering at women's shelters. The last 30 years or so had seen a drastic decrease in that.

"Then i'm just as puzzled as you are. The girl isn't in any immediate danger that we know of, the brother has gotten raving reviews from anyone i've talked to, and they're living with a well respected family. Personally, I don't see the point, when the whole thing was expedited anyway."

Mio gave him a look, raised brow and flatline lips.

"Detective, I understand if you're unable to share the workings of whatever it is you're working on, but lying isn't necessary."

Tanaka took an extra long drag, finishing off his smokey treat.

"Okay then, I am unable to share the details of my investigation with you Kayde-san."

In the few weeks that he'd been promoted, he already missed the regular work of an officer on the street. This detective stuff was too much paperwork, and dealing with people that could pick his brain apart with a look.

Tanaka picked up his bag, as their cab arrived to bring them to the Aoyama estate.

It was time to finally meet the ones he'd been working on finding, only for them to announce themselves, in the form of an adoption request.

 **-LineBreak-**

Tsuruko had awoken at her usual time, just before dawn, and set to the task of preparing to leave. She had unpacked her luggage, looking through it and thinking of the best one to wear.

Today was to be one of the hottest days of the year supposedly, bright sunny and humid. No doubt the sea breeze would take a bit of that away, but her family was of a very fair complexion. Direct summer sun would have her blistering in no time.

The sundress seemed to call to her, and chose to go with that.

Her mind had been a whirlwind after the call from her friend Haruka.

While she was truly glad to have heard from the woman after so long, Tsuruko wished it had been under different circumstances. Without even knowing it, Tsuruko had hurt Haruka deeply, something she'd never willingly do.

Those thoughts plaguing her, about marriage and Keitaro, hadn't lessened in the least after their talk. Tsuruko knew she should feel remorseful, that not even Harukas emotional display had put a dent in her desire to be wed to Keitaro.

Not that he was anywhere near accepting such a thing, at the moment.

 _Where do we go from here?_ The question had come across her mind last night, and she was still fighting to come to an answer.

She knew neither herself or Haruka, would back down from pursuing him.

Her mind wandered to the days spent together, between herself and Haruka. In their youth, they had spent entire weeks together. During those years, the two had become so close, that verbal communication wasn't needed in some instances.

These were her thoughts as Tsuruko sat on the train headed north, to the oceanside town where the Hint beached cafe resided.

They would hardly be apart long enough for a bathroom break, let alone actual bathing, as they had done that together. Tsuruko and Haruka had shared anything and everything with each other.

Her eyes shimmered as a strange idea started to form in her head, she gripped the case for her sword tightly, as hope started to flood her.

"Please let this work." She whispered to herself.

They had gossiped together, or as little as they participated in the act. A bath shared between them was a common occurrence. And when teenage curiosity had set in, the time naked had not only been in bathing waters, as they explored and touched.

If Haruka refused, Tsuruko had no idea how things would play out, but she was certain Keitaro would be of half a mind to severe any romantic ties with both of them. He would not have time for such things, as a father. Kei didn't even seem to have time for it now. But she would hope.

Because that was all she had at the moment.

 **-LineBreak-**

"Daddy!"

"Whattie?" Keitaro responded without looking up from the paperwork given to him bright and early this morning.

"Daddy Daddy!"

"Whattie Whattie?"

It was the details of his becoming the basic hand-to-hand combat instructor. His first lesson was to take place in just over a week. The paper included a detailed account of what was expected for the curriculum, his pay increase and the benefits afforded to him.

"Daddy Daddy Daddy!"

But Kanako had woken up, and been even more energetic than usual.

Sleep had escaped him for most of the night. Keitaro was too nervous about what might happen today. He wiped his hands on his jeans, as the sweat poured out his palms, at a rate that made him wonder if he'd be dangerously dehydrated by noon.

Keitaro started to turn around and lift his head up to look at Kanako.

"Whattie Whattie Wha- Oof!"

No sooner had he been facing her direction, when she barreled into him. His chair had almost been knocked over, thankfully Kanako was about as heavy as a paper weight.

Her arms latched around his neck, as she nuzzled into his collar affectionately.

Keitaro smiled, letting the last of the papers in his hand go, in favor of hugging the girl back.

Apparently, all she'd wanted was to attack hug him.

Kanako had been very apologetic last night, after he explained what happened with those two women who attacked him.

Chiharu Aoyama had explained that it was to test his reactions in stressful situations, something that Keitaro was not in short supply of. But Kanako wasn't supposed to be involved in any way. It was more common for a prospective instructor to be ambushed when they were alone. But it seemed that the two women did not see him in a positive light.

When the matriarch tried to apologize to Kanako and himself, she had hidden herself behind him.

When he walked back to their room, Tsuruko had given her own apologies, and explained what they'd been doing when it all started. That was when he realized that the two women had been watching Kanako all day, waiting for the appropriate time to make their move. He doubted he'd be willing to talk to those two for a long while after what they pulled.

Once they settled down, he and Kanako curled up together and watched a few movies, before she quickly fell asleep.

Then this morning, Tsuruko stops by with the papers he was just looking at. He honestly expected her to come by last night with them.

He could tell that something was bothering her, but didn't want to end up being distracted today of all days.

He looked at the clock on the wall, which read 9:38AM. 22 minutes before he was supposed to start his meeting.

"You're gonna be my daddy for real, after today, right?"

He heard Kanako mumble into his shirt.

"I hope so. The people that make that choice are going to be here soon. Are you ready?" He returned, rubbing his hand over her back.

Kanako pulled herself away, beaming a smile towards him.

"Yup! I'll tell them how nice you are, and how much I love you."

He chuckled at how simple things seemed in her mind. Things like income, and availability didn't matter to her. They were happy, and that was enough.

"I love you too Kana-chan. Lets go meet them outside okay?"

Kanako hopped off, straightening her favored black dress. He wanted her to wear something else, but the heat was supposed to be harsh today, and her other light clothes were still a little damp.

Keitaro was thankful that he'd been able to find an almost identical one, when they went shopping. The old one was getting too short, even if the sleeves and waist were still way too big.

"Hold up." Keitaro said, holding his hand up.

Kanako froze in her twirl, one leg still lifted. She swayed as she tried to maintain the same position.

"You brushed your teeth?"

Kanako stumbled, setting both feet on the ground as she nodded, and showcased her pearly whites.

"Brushed your hair?"

She flipped her head down, letting him see that there were no knots. She might only be 8, about to be 9, but she was proud of her silky black hair.

"Clean socks?"

She lifted her left foot up, letting him see the bottoms of her sock clad foot, then switching to do the other.

"Clean underwear?"

Kanako froze in her place for a different reason, as she realized their room was breezier than normal. Her lavender eyes widened.

When she stood there, not making any acknowledgements, Keitaro knew that she had forgotten to put a new pair on when she changed out of her pajamas.

"Go put'em on." He said, turning around to face the door.

Kanako sprinted the whole 5 steps it took to get to the small dresser that held her clothes.

She tore into the selection of undergarments, knowing exactly which ones she wanted.

She saw the cat paw prints underneath the pink. Three or four pairs went flying onto the floor, as she raised the underwear up victoriously.

"Daddy, no peeking!" She yelled out, turning her head towards him.

Keitaro wouldn't have dreamed of it. No man wanted to see his little sister in that way….Well, no normal man.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He answered flatly. He was lucky her dress hadn't risen up enough for him to see that she was going commando. That was a sight he never had a desire to see again, it made him feel incredibly unclean.

Once she donned the pair, she skipped over to him, taking a hold of his hand.

"Okay Daddy, i'm ready!" She twirled herself under his arm, pretending to dance. Kanako just felt so light today, so happy and ready to play.

Keitaro looked behind him, and saw the clothes on the floor. He groaned, knowing that the people would want to come check his living space.

'Fuck it. If the only thing on the floor is a pair or two of her underwear, it'll be fine.'

He reasoned that it might be better that way. If the place looked too clean, they might assume that he was too controlling or strict with her.

 **-LineBreak-**

Fuck the sun, fuck the air, fuck gravity, fuck this pillow, fuck the people screaming their heads off on the beach, fuck the birds using that megaphone.

She knew drinking on an empty stomach was a bad idea.

But Haruka had been in desperate need of a drink, or 2 entire bottles, last night.

She had such a strange dream too.

Giving Keitaro a blowjob during his wedding, while Tsuruko read her vows? That was definitely strange, even for her tastes.

'Wait a sec…' She thought abruptly, even as her own mental voice caused her head to throb.

Did she call Tsuruko last night? Haruka didn't know that she even remembered the number.

Haruka opened her eyes slowly, cringing as the light coming in only made her nauseous. She could feel the wetness of her pillow at eye level, letting her know that she had definitely had too much to drink, if her emotions had gotten the better of her.

While she was sober, only a few people ever got anything besides anger or indifference.

Keitaro, Granny, Her mother, Tsuruko(when they'd been allowed to see each other still), and Julia. Sometimes Kitsune too, but that was dependent on what the fox had done recently.

Fighting down the bile that wanted to rise up her throat, Haruka looked for the cell phone she only kept for emergencies.

Half of her wanted it to only be a dream, that she hadn't said the things that she could vaguely recall.

The other half was glad, she'd told Tsuruko, that she'd never give up on Kei.

Sucking him off at his wedding might have been a bit much, but it illustrated her point. Married, or romantically involved, Haruka was his girl no matter what. And she would do what she had to, to keep it that way.

She'd waited long enough, hadn't she?

Pressing the green button on the pad, Haruka saw the number that only looked a little familiar, and then at the time she'd called it.

11:18PM

Haruka dropped the phone and sprinted towards the bathroom, her stomach sinking and then quickly rising as it wanted to vacate the poison she'd downed in the last 18 hours.

As the vile tasting remnants of yesterday were spilled into the porcelain bowl, Haruka knew she had to prepare herself. The sun had already cleared the canopy that came down and partially covered her window, that meant it was late into the morning.

Tsuruko was an early riser, and if she truly was coming out here, her arrival would be soon.

She wiped her mouth with some toilet paper, flushed it down, and did her best to make it to the kitchen without puking again.

As Haruka descended the stairs, she paid no mind to the fact, that she was only in a baggy T-shirt and panties. It was less revealing than a bikini anyway.

Each step had her head throb, and her inner ear amplified the sound, making it much worse. She came around the corner, seeing a few of the long time regulars, all eating their brunch.

She could see Kitsune at the bar, chatting up some average looking guy with an expensive looking watch. Seriously, did the girl never learn? The gems were fake, he was obviously just trying to impress some sleazy girl back to his room.

Deciding the best course of action, was to get a bit of the hair of the dog that had bitten her ass….repeatedly, to ease this nasty hangover, Haruka sat on one of the stools.

She put her elbows on the table, her thumbs kneading her temple to sooth her skull.

"Mornin' Haruka-san… Hot dayum gurl, ya look like ya had a-" Kitsune started trying to tease her.

"Shut up." Haruka hissed. Every syllable that passed through her ears right now was like nails on a chalk board echoing through a metal tunnel.

"Bloody Mary. Vodka, tomato, more vodka. Now."

Kitsune moved through the processes like an experienced bartender, but was more accurately described as one who knew how to both acquire and kill a hangover.

The fake watch guy was eyeing her, his eyes trailing up her long legs. She didn't really care right now, he could never measure up for her anyway. He moved his stool a bit closer, the screaching sound of metal on wood was torture.

Kitsune placed the tall reddish drink in front of Haruka, who grabbed it right away.

The fox watched, as Haruka chugged the concoction down in big gulps, like it was essential to her staying alive. It was strange to be on the other side of things in this scenario.

Haruka finished her drink in under 10 seconds, placing the glass on the counter, and licking her lips.

Fake watch guy looked at her, like he'd found the golden egg. Pretty girl in just a t-shirt with no bra, and panties? He was no doubt imagining how easy it'd be to lure her in, and have bragging material for his friends.

"Need another drink young lady?"

Haruka stood, already feeling her hangover recede.

"Go find a hooker you sleaze bag. Oh wait…You probably couldn't even afford one. Nice bedazzled watch."

She started to head inside, as Kitsune was now staring at the watch, her eyes actually opening a bit, to look at its quality.

The guy was turning beet red, embarrassed at being called out so harshly this early into his search for an easy lay. He made a hasty retreat, seeing his chance at scoring with the busty ash blonde bartender had been ruined too.

Haruka found Motoko in the same spot as yesterday, by the door and watching for 'vile lecherous males'.

"You still scared of your sister?" Haruka asked, recalling how the girl had reacted the last time Tsuruko called the Hinata.

Motoko withdrew into herself, recalling the last time she saw her older sister, giving Haruka her answer.

"Might wanna hide then, she's probably going to be here within the hour."

The 4 shots of vodka in that bloody mary were giving Haruka the ability to move, think, hear and talk without much pain now. If she could get some absurdly greasy food before Tsuruko arrived, that would be great.

Perhaps an entire pound of bacon, or a burger. A pound of bacon _on_ the burger!

Since she had only just gotten out of bed, Haruka assumed that Shinobu was the one in the kitchen, that girl made a patty melt that was to die for. And those things were basically, grease meat cheese and bread.

"Aneue is coming here?! …Why?" Motoko held one hand at her waist, trying to find comfort in the sword that was usually there. When her hand met empty air, she looked even more disturbed.

"Personal stuff." Haruka answered, before walking off towards the kitchen.

The double doors were just within Harukas reach, Motoko heading up the stairs to the residential area, when a voice carried from the entrance.

"Haru-chan, Motoko-han, i'm wounded…Truly wounded. I thought you would be happy to see me again."

Half of the customers turned to the voice, and saw a tall woman. She wore a red sundress, with a black wide brimmed hat, that covered much of her face.

If the raven black hair and pale skin, or her voice hadn't given her away, the case on her shoulder certainly did.

Motoko drooped her head for just a moment, before steeling herself to whatever embarrassment her sister would put her through.

 **-LineBreak-**

Keitaro hadn't been sure what he could expect from this meeting, but being placed in his room with a camera on him, definitely wasn't anywhere on that list.

The man across from him, using his desk chair, introduced himself as Detective Yuuto Tanaka, Temporarily assigned to the Imperial Organized crime Unit.

The woman that had been with him, Mio Kayde, had taken Kanako to the room next door to talk a little. Kanako had only gone with the woman, after Keitaro told her that he'd be right next door.

"Keitaro-san, i'm sure you're a little confused about this set-up, right?" The man said, after he'd pressed record, and sat down just barely in view of the lense.

Keitaro nodded as he glanced at the device.

"Yea, I can't say I know what these things are supposed to be like, but this wasn't even close to what I expected."

He shifted on the other chair uncomfortably.

"Let me explain why i'm here then."

The man put his right foot to rest on his left thigh, a notebook and pen resting on his lap.

"A while back, I was working when we entered the apartment you used to live in."

Keitaro locked his eyes on the other man. He didn't look accusing, or threatening, more inquisitive than anything.

"You did quite a number on your father."

"That _man_ stopped being my father, when he was more concerned about his habits, then his children." Keitaro retorted immediately.

The detective backed off, hands raised in defense.

"Okay, duly noted. I was among the first on scene, that found Tai Urashima. I was the one leading the charge of finding you and your sister. I have to say, Keitaro-san, i'm impressed at how well you dropped off grid. Even with the little knowledge I _do_ have on your connection to the Shuzen family-" Keitaro winced when that name came up.

"I'm glad that you did. That's mainly what brings me here. There's no evidence pointing in the direction of you not being a perfect father for Kanako-chan. Seeing the way you two interact, even if only briefly, solidifies that for me."

The man took a breath, as he paused in his monologue. His fingers went for his shirt pocket, where Keitaro saw a pack of cigarettes, before Tanaka decided it best not to smoke in another persons home.

"We were able to find video of you and Mira Shuzen together on several occasions, mostly at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. We gathered that you separated yourself from them, once you got the job at TTV. After that, your whereabouts were pretty easy to track."

The detective was bringing up events that Keitaro would rather leave in the dark recesses of his mind. But for the sake of finalizing his adoption of Kanako, he'd give whatever details he could to the man.

"Can you walk me through how you came to be involved with them? What you did? Where you went? And how you managed to leave that environment?"

Tanaka waited, as Keitaro seemed to think of how to word the things he'd need to say. His expression changed, growing concerned as he asked a question.

"If you know that i'm a good fit for Kanako-chan as a parent, then why go through all of this? It doesn't make sense to me."

Tanaka snorted in amusement.

"Keitaro-san, you have no idea how this has escalated. That family has been on the governments hit list for years, when the judge here sent the form for your adoption request up the chain, someone saw it as an opportunity to get a bit closer to catching some of them. They want anything from grunts, moles, conpirators, to leaders."

Keitaro watched as the man took out a folded piece of paper.

He slid it over for Keitaro to look it over.

"Your adoption was expedited, in the hopes that in return, you'd help us out with some information. The interviews we had with people you know certainly had a lot of good things to say about you."

Looking it over, Keitaro saw that for himself. It was an approval passed down to the CGC from the supreme court.

 _The adoption of one Kanako Urashima, by Keitaro Urashima, is hereby recognized and recommended by the Supreme court of Japan._

 _The evidence and statements by Hina Urashima, as well as those who had interacted with the pair on a day to day basis, show Keitaro Urashima to be a devoted, caring and respectful individual._

 _The CGC shall still hold the ability to deny this request, should any of the following be revealed._

 _-The nutritional needs of the child are not being met._

 _-The prospective parent does not provide a stable and loving home environment._

 _-The child shows signs of abuse or neglect._

 _-The childs physical or psychological standing requires more care._

 _-The child is not being provided the minimally appropriate education, by a credited facility._

 _Should all of the childs needs be met, Keitaro Urashima is recommended to be appointed as the adoptive father of Kanako Urashima._

 _Signed,_

 _Chief Justice, Itsuro Terada_

As he finished reading through the letter, Keitaro felt an enormous weight fall off of his shoulders. The way he understood it, this letter was basically saying that Kanako was now his daughter.

Everything and anything she needed, Keitaro had provided for her. No matter if it was food, love, clothes, toys or attention.

"What did you want to know?" Keitaro smiled wider than he had in a long time, as the detective got out a pen and paper to take notes. He idly wondered what the hell his grandmothers name was doing on that list.

 **-LineBreak-**

After getting something nice and greasy to eat, Haruka and Tsuruko made their way to her room above the cafe.

Tsuruko glanced around, surprised by the spartan design. She'd known Haruka to have a few particular interests. Aside from her collection of costumes, were fans, whips, and artifacts.

But none of those were depicted in here. It was plain, with no pictures on the wall, or really anything of sentimental value at all.

Tsuruko reasoned that was because this was not her home, but merely a place to sleep during her time here.

Haruka scarffed the food, like a person on the verge of dying from starvation. The swordswoman merely rose an eyebrow, before she saw the empty bottles on the counter in the distance.

Personally, she never understood the desire to get so intoxicated that a good portion of the next day was spent in pain. Remembering their conversation last night, Tsuruko felt that she was lucky, that she wasn't on the opposite side of things right now.

"Now that i'm feeling like half a human being again, lets just get to it." Haruka said, putting the plate in the sink to be dealt with later.

"Very well." Tsuruko said with nod and smile. While she was most definitely nervous of where this conversation would lead, she was happy to see her friend again.

"I suppose, that I would first like to know, why you haven't contacted him yourself?"

Tsuruko folded her hands on her lap, as Haruka drummed her fingers on the table.

"I had no way to get in touch with him. No phone number, no address, no email…nothing. I had no idea how far our plan had fallen apart."

Tsuruko wanted to keep this conversation as cordial as possible.

"Plan?" She asked.

Haruka nodded.

"Started off as just a stupid kid thing, saying we'd run away together, and live happily ever after. We never told anyone about how close we really were. It wasn't until about a year ago, that Granny asked me about it." Her smile was wistful as she said it.

"Before Kasumi died, we'd actually started to put details into it. Places we wanted to go, things we wanted to do. Once we had both graduated from Tokyo U, we would come back together."

Her smile wilted into frustration.

"But no…Tai just had to get involved with those fucking Yakuza."

While Tsuruko had gathered that something of the sort had occured, the actual term had never been used around her as of yet. She wondered how much of his reluctance to return her affection was because of this group, and the things he may have done.

"Haruka, do you know any details of his time around this group of degenerates? Kei is rather tight lipped about his past. I only managed to figure out that he may have had some interaction with a group of that kind yesterday, as I spoke with Kanako-chan."

As Kanako had put it, he had to beat up the mean people so they wouldn't take her away. But she didn't know any real details.

"You really wanna just dance around the main issue here?" Haruka said with a raised brow, before shrugging and just seeing where things lead.

"I know that Granny was trying to keep an eye on Kei and Kanako-chan, when the Shuzens showed up. They said if she didn't back off, both of them would be sold off into prostitution. They said Keitaro had already been…tested, and wanted to pull him in fully. Kanako-chan probably would have been sent off to Cambodia or something."

The way Haruka delivered those words sounded like she couldn't care about what happened to Keitaro and Kanako. It was her eyes that said, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Tsuruko felt a slight pain in her chest, as her eyes widened. Knowing how most of the wealthier class would look down on him, she saw his reasoning for keeping quiet. Even if he trusted her, there was no way to know how her family would react. The shame he must feel was a whole different factor.

"Even if you and Kei did not have a relationship, he'd never let me in, would he? Not when that would mean telling me of the things he might've done."

Haruka scratched at the table with a fingernail, not liking to even think of never having him in her life.

"I can't answer that Tsu-chan, I haven't seen him in 6 years. But if he's still close to how I knew him, then no. He's holds himself to a high standard, and it used to kill him when he couldn't measure up. Not even the sleeping dragon can conquer all challenges alone."

Tsuruko tilted her head.

"Sleeping dragon?"

 **-LineBreak-**

"So your dad gets into a drinking and gambling debt, at a place the Shuzens own." Tanaka tapped his pen on the pad of paper, going over the details.

"They come to collect, and you get thrown into a…Lets call it a working agreement, for Mira Shuzen directly. Walk me through a typical time when she'd call you."

Keitaro leaned forward in his chair, fingers laced together on the table. He'd give the man whatever info he requested, but that didn't mean the memories were any less awful for him.

"She'd call, tell me where to get picked up. Most of the time it was that hotel in the city. For the first few weeks, once every two or three days, we'd meet and have sex. Just the two of us, in a hotel room."

"And after those few weeks?" Tanaka asked.

Keitaro got more uncomfortable.

"Then it was everyday, sometimes i'd get summoned more than once. Then she started bringing in the new girls the family scooped up. I was ordered to have sex with them too, violently for a few of them."

"She ordered you violently? Or asked you to be violent with these other girls?"

"Both" Keitaro swallowed thickly, before elaborating, as he knew the man would want.

"If I ever stuttered to obey, she'd hit me with something. She had me slap the girl. When that got boring, she wanted me to choke them, just enough so they felt they had a hard time breathing."

Tanaka looked at the clock, and saw that he'd eaten up most of his time.

"Okay, so this goes on for…what, 2 or 2 and a half years? You get the TTV job. How did you break away?"

Keitaro brushed off the brief look of disgust on the mans face. He didn't want to delve into wondering just _who_ those thoughts were aimed at.

"I was told, around 2 months before I got my previous job, that the debt had been cleared. But thanks to a raging case of alcoholism, my father was unable to do anything but sit around and drink, which meant I couldn't afford to ignore Mira. They were still getting him whatever vices he wanted, so he must have been working for them in some capacity…unless they were trying to get him to hand Kanako-chan and I over."

"It was pure luck that I even got that job, having no experience. After I had gotten my first paycheck, I told Mira that I was done. She didn't believe me, said that there was no way I could resist her… _charm._ "

Tanaka seemed to understand that Mira Shuzen had spoken much more colorful words.

 _C'mon baby, you know i'm the best you'll ever have. No other woman has a pussy that can squeeze you, the way that I do. I've sent of my guards to bring you and little Kanako to me. Come to me, so you can cum for me. Be a good boy, and i'll even let you fuck me in the ass again._

She had started getting too possessive for his liking. If he didn't show her that he was his own person, she'd only get worse. Who knew how far she'd go if he kept going along with this.

"She sent three thugs to bring Kanako-chan and I to the hotel. They told me, that we were going whether we liked it or not, and made sure that I saw the baseball bats they had. I sent them back, with some broken bones and a message, to leave me the fuck alone."

Tanaka stayed silent, like he was waiting for the story to reach a more dramatic conclusion.

"Wait…That's it? No more strong arm attempts, she left you alone after that?"

Keitaro nodded.

"From what she told me, the deal made was with her directly, not the family. My guess is that she didn't want to lose face with her father, who'd just started coming around to her being more active in their business practices."

Tanaka leaned back in his chair, dumbfounded by the stroke of luck the young man received.

"Lucky break." Because otherwise, those _guards_ would've had guns on them.

Keitaro didn't see it that way. Because of his father, he had been forced to give up the path he'd wanted his life to go. Because of Mira, he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to look Haruka in the eye again. If she even remembered their plan.

She'd probably moved on with her life, traveled the world, seen and done amazing things. Hell, maybe she settled down with some smart and interesting guy she met in college.

He had no way of finding out. He didn't have a phone number, or an address. He couldn't even remember the name of the inn his grandmother ran, or the city it was located.

He felt like it was always on the tip of his tongue whenever he tried. He could remember the landscape, the feel of the wood floors, the temperature of the hot springs. But nothing that might help to unravel the mystery.

It _had_ been 6 years, who wouldn't want to get on with their life?

"Yeah… I guess so."

Even if he could remember, did they want anything to do with him? Because once again, it had been 6 _years_. Even if Haruka was doing her own thing now, why hadn't he heard from Granny or Aunt Yoko?

 **-LineBreak-**

"When he was 9?!" Tsuruko shouted in surprise.

Haruka nodded, taking a sip of another bloody mary she'd requested from down stairs, after retelling the story of when her and Keitaro had bonded. Tsuruko had just shared her account of how they'd been doing at her family home.

Sure it was a bit early to be drinking for her taste, but what the hell? If Kitsune could still function with doing it for months on end, she could handle one day.

"Yup, it felt like I lost control of my body, and kissed him right after that dog scampered away."

Tsuruko winced, hearing further evidence of how far behind she was, in pursuing a relationship with Keitaro.

"And just like that, my fate was sealed. It doesn't matter what the guy looks like, how nice he is, or how many romantic gestures he makes. There's only one Keitaro."

She knew that intimately. While Haruka had given into the demands of her teenage hormones, Keitaro went along with her out of affection and curiosity. It had only taken one caress of her upper thigh, and one peck of a kiss, to understand that he was the only one for her.

Haruka stirred the celery stalk in her glass, watching her friend. She was trying to get Tsuruko to back down, even though she knew the chances of that were pretty much zero.

It was plain to see that the swordswoman cared for Keitaro a great deal, and was getting desperate in finding a way to bridge the gap.

Tsuruko steeled herself, ready to be humbled in front of her friend. The idea she had been tossing around since early in the morning, was ridiculous. But it was the only one she saw, that had any chance of giving both women what they wanted. Both of them were too hard-headed to back down.

The echoing steps on the stairs went unnoticed by both of them, as Tsuruko slid to her knees, with her head to the floor.

"Please Haruka-san! Do me this one kindness!"

The brunette stopped stirring. She had expected Tsuruko to try and reason with her, to push her into letting Keitaro go, so she could swoop in.

The creek of the door hinge was ignored.

"Even disregarding the expectations of my family, I refuse to not at least try in gaining his affection. He cares for me, I can feel it in the marrow of my bones! My heart and soul sing whenever we touch. I am already expected to forsake my name and my way of life, must I also live with the regret of knowing I could have been happy in doing so?"

"Aneue….What are you talking about?" Motoko whispered, the door opened enough to give her full view of the scene.

She had come up at Granny Hinas request, to deliver the envelopes that she had come in with yesterday. She was supposed to give them to her sister, and was dreading doing so.

Before coming to the Hinata-sou, there had been strife within her family, the result having named her the heir of the school. She was never told what the cause was, for her sister to be dethroned so quickly and harshly.

She had just thought it her own decision to pass the duty along, after seeing her younger sisters devotion to their ways.

Both women heard her, but kept their attention on each other, as Tsuruko raised her head.

Tsuruko knew, that Motoko would come to find out eventually, and was dreading the way her sister might look at her. The near constant teasing had been a way to mask the sadness, jealousy and slight resentment she felt, even though it was due to her own actions.

Haruka didn't care what Motoko heard, because she wasn't ashamed of what they'd done together. Tsuruko had been the one to push the subject in the first place, thinking that doing so with a man would have her removed from the family entirely, labeled as a tainted whore…unfit to wield a blade against the creatures of the night.

Tsuruko was always a little different from the average upper class martial artist. That had been her undoing, sentencing her to leave the life she'd always trained to have.

"Please Haruka-chan. We once shared just about everything. Is this not a path we can walk down together? Had I known of your connection to him, I would have transported him to you myself." Tsuruko pleaded.

Her head bowed once more, to hide the threat of tears ready to spill. Haruka looked at the woman as if she were crazy.

"But I cannot change events of days passed by. I am falling in love with him faster and faster by the day. I can't imagine the pain you felt upon my mothers false declaration. Nor do I want to find out, how it will feel to be sold off as cattle, and leave him behind."

Haruka stood from her seat slowly, the sound of the chair sliding across the floor getting Tsuruko to raise teary eyes.

Brown looked down harshly into grey-green.

"What happened to the girl I used to know, Tsuruko? When was it ever in your nature to decide things about other peoples lives, the way you are right now with both mine and Keitaros?"

Leaning back to sit on her knees, Tsuruko attempted to explain herself.

"Haru-chan, that's not what I-"

"What about Kanako, hmm? Every decision he makes now revolves around an 8 year old little girl, that has been put through too much."

Again Haruka was surprised, as she had expected Tsuruko to yell out a denial.

"I know that Haruka." The headmistress spoke softly.

Haruka crossed her arms, and huffed her disbelief. Motoko stood there at the doorway, unsure of what she should do. She felt as though any movement on her part, would change their attention to her, which was ill advised.

"The day after I met them, we toured the major shrines. He watched her every move, as if she would be blown away in the breeze and never come back. Kanako is his entire world, as she should be."

Tsuruko placed her hands over her heart, trying to convey every ounce of honesty and emotion she could into the look she gave Haruka.

"I would love her as my own, and help Kei in whatever way was needed."

She stood, aiming to grab the hands of her friend. She was thankfully able to do so before Haruka could pull away.

Motoko looked at the seemingly intimate display, with a raised brow and confused expression.

"If I could experience a tenth of the love he shows her, I would be happy."

Motoko narrowed her eyes, at the statement that sounded to her like a case of child abuse, her disposition towards men taking over the more logical parts of her mind. The man in question was too young to be the father of an 8 year old, and therefore was incapable of loving her in that manner. That only left one, most despicable form of love.

"But I cannot foresee a positive outcome for either of us, with the way things stand. Should we continue to bicker and fight, it would only drive him away from us completely. Bond or no bond, once he finds out… It would be the end."

"You're reaching for straws Tsu-chan. Even if Kei was ashamed of the things he did, I could talk him down." Haruka remained firm in her position.

"I spent quite a lot of time with him these last few months, and am confident I could as well. But what happens when he questions how superfluous information of his past came to be known? I would never lie to him. He would know that _you_ told me, and then either of our chances would be ruined further."

Haruka scowled. Tsuruko was trying to corner her into accepting something that was absolutely ridiculous. Keitaro was meant to be with her! Not some Yakuza skank, and not with Tsuruko!

"It doesn't work Tsu-chan. I've seen it."

With Julia and Seta, when the oaf tried to get both of them into bed. Haruka would never understand what Julia saw in him. There was also that one Bi-sexual girl in Germany.

That night marked the beginning of the end of the relationship between the two. And when Julia died, Seta had set his sights on her.

"You're also forgetting the fact, that I haven't seen or spoken to him in a _long_ time."

Tsuruko saw her chance, and took it. She reached for the table, where a cellphone sat. To prove her sincerity, she would potentially risk it all.

Haruka watched, as Tsuruko manipulated the device.

When she was done, Harukas face was the most surprised Motoko had ever seen it.

Looking at the screen, Haruka had a hard time believing her eyes. Tsuruko had just handed her Keitaros phone number.

"I will not keep you from him Haru-chan. I am no more enthusiastic about hurting you, than I am about leaving him."

She clasped her hands around the phone and Harukas.

"I know this to be unorthodox. And many would say wrong or sinful. But I would rather it be this way, then to risk my chance all together."

She stepped back to her starting spot at the table.

"It's not a perfect solution, and I don't believe there is one for this scenario. But I do believe it to be better than a loveless, monetarily driven marriage. Dying alone would be better than that."

Tsuruko turned on her heels, grabbing the handle of her small, wheeled luggage. She stopped at her sister, who was looking at her strangely, as if she'd discovered a new organism.

"I believe those to be for me?" She asked with a calm she didn't feel.

Motoko placed the envelopes in her sisters hand, and Tsuruko started her descent down the stairs, ready to head back home. She wanted to learn the news of the adoption.

"God _dammit_ Tsuruko!" Haruka whispered to herself.

The headmistress never made things easy, there was always some sort of complication with her.

This was by far the heaviest one.

Tsuruko had appeared, gotten ammunition to help herself with Keitaro, propositioned her into being in a polyamorous relationship, and then ducked out before any real resolution could come about.

The worst part?

Haruka actually felt that she _should_ try and go through with it. Tsuruko had an allure, that she knew to be hard to dismiss.

Tsuruko was tall and busty, long slender legs, and an ass shaped by years of training. She was kind, and fun, and could be _really_ spontaneous at times. Those expressive eyes of hers only tied the package together.

What did Haruka have to compete with all that? She'd grown distant and bitter towards people since her time abroad, smoked a pack and a half a day.

She was much shorter, had smaller breasts, and didn't have that contrast between her eyes and hair.

The only thing she had over Tsuruko, was a history with Keitaro, a bond as children that had them falling for each other hard and fast at the time. She knew certain physical things that Keitaro enjoyed from that period in their lives, but Tsuruko could just as easily learn them.

Aside from her feelings of inferiority, Haruka knew that Tsuruko genuinely just wanted to share the love. While Haruka was just looking out for her own interests and feelings.

As Tsuruko had gone on about the times shared with Keitaro and Kanako, the more she realized that Tsuruko had indeed truly fallen in love with Keitaro.

The monogamous woman in her screamed, _Fuck that bitch, thats_ ** _my_** _man._

While the part her that wanted to do what was right and fair said, _People can change in many ways over time. But Keitaro is a Urashima, he will keep his promise to the best of his ability, 2 lovers or 1 doesn't matter._

There was a small, traitorous part of her mind that brought back memories of her time with Tsuruko. Telling her that Kei would be putty in their hands after a little girl on girl display.

Haruka couldn't believe what she was about to do, as she marched to her dresser to throw on a clean tank top and some shorts.

She stalked down the stairs as a quote from her college days came to mind.

 _There is always madness in love, but there is also always reason in madness._

Tsuruko was definitely showing the madness that her newfound love for Keitaro had inspired. Haruka would just have to hope that her own reason in madness, surpassed her madness in love.

As she came down the steps and into the diner, Granny saw her, and the look on her face.

Knowing that look meant nothing good, Granny tried to reach out to stop Haruka. Whatever reason she had for trailing Tsuruko, she didn't think she'd like it.

"Haru-chan wait!"

Haruka spun quickly towards the short old woman, snarling.

"No Granny! Because of you, i've nearly lost him! You set those plans into motion without anyone elses consent. You tucked your tail between your legs like a frightened animal when mom or myself could have helped you. I've waited long enough."

Without any further explanation of what she was doing, or waiting for a response, Haruka turned and walked out to the pavement along the beach.

The Hinata girls watched as she looked into the distance, calling out to the strange woman they just learned was the sister of Motoko.

"Tsu-chan!" Haruka yelled, needing one hand to block the sun from her vision.

The red dress and black hat helped to keep her visible among the other bystanders.

Haruka speed walked up to Tsuruko, her typical look of indifference on her face. Tsuruko took that as a good sign, and set her luggage down beside her.

Tsuruko said nothing, and waited for her friend to make whatever proclamation she had on her mind.

She knew she had played dirty, but what else was she to do?

Haruka glared at the people that had stopped to stare at the two of them, getting them to move along.

Then she leveled Tsuruko with a stare that gave no room for negotiation, or leniency.

"If it doesn't work, and I lose him because of this…"

Tsurukos hands came to clasp over her mouth. She hadn't expected Haruka to concede so quickly, if at all.

"Haru-chan-" She murmured excitedly.

 _She must truly miss him._ Tsuruko thought.

"You, Granny Hina, your mother, and your entire fucking family will be dead to me. I don't care what legal, or financial trouble any of you get in. I'll never even spare you a glance."

Her hands trembled in joy and anticipation of days and years to come. She could have her happy ending, something thought taken away years ago.

Haruka found her herself quickly embraced by Tsuruko, her head guided towards her chest. She felt Tsuruko lean her head down to whisper down to her in shuddered breaths.

"It _will_ work Haru-chan. Help me get break through to him, and i'll make sure the four of us are happy."

Haruka pulled away, about to flip her lid on Tsuruko at the _four of us_ comment, before realizing she was talking about Kanako.

 _Shit…Does that mean i'll be a step-mom?_ There was a whole slew of things that would need to be worked out. But…first things first.

"Oh no. You're doing that whole confession bit, on your own. You're the late bloomer here, not me. Kei _knows_ I love him." The way Harukas eyebrows wiggled, along with the small grin, had Tsuruko stepping back.

"You and Kei… had sex?" Her voice incredulous, and eyebrows knitted.

The smug grin spread wider on Haruka.

"Like I said, you're the late bloomer. You didn't think I mentioned that whole, sucking him off at your wedding thing, offhandedly did you? Been there, sucked that…Fucked it too."

Tsuruko sputtered, getting Haruka to chuckle. Maybe this whole thing could have a few fun moments that didn't involve the three of them being naked.

"You know what they say. The early bird gets the worm…deep inside of her."

Haruka turned around and walked back to the cafe, swaying her hips victoriously. Finally admitting that to someone felt good.

Granny knew they were close. But she didn't know all the details…She hoped.

They hadn't lived hers or Keitaros life. They were meant to be together, even if there was now a third wheel.

Some people would think it weird, a 17 year girl studying to enter Todai, would lose her virginity to her cousin nearly 4 years younger. They had been kissing for years by that point. When he finally hit puberty, she gave him the talk.

The birds and the bees was quickly followed by a talk of consent, and to recognize being pressured into doing something.

Haruka would be caught dead, before being accused of having taken advantage of him. He knew full well what they were doing, before that barrier was broken.

It hadn't happened right away. They went through the usual steps, or bases as some referred to them. Looking, touching, rubbing, sucking, before they took that last step. Each new part of their relationship had been only happened once Haruka had bluntly asked him if this was what he wanted.


	7. Adoption

Keitaro had finished with the detective, and moved over to the room with Kanako.

Whatever the woman was saying, was quickly disregarded by her, as she leapt from her chair to embrace him.

The detective had asked, if Kanako should leave the room, and immediately Kanako had latched onto him with a death grip.

It was clear to all, that she was _not_ leaving Keitaro to be with a stranger, Policeman or not.

The middle aged woman gave in to the silent demands of the little girl, only asking that she not speak during the talk between herself and Keitaro.

It had been as plain as Keitaro had imagined it to be.

She asked him questions on how he managed day to day things. Food prep, clothing, medical needs, school.

He'd given her the details of both before coming to Kyoto, and after. She actually looked mildly impressed.

Keitaro had explained that he specifically searched for a job that allowed him to spend time with Kanako when she got home from school. This allowed him the time to make her lunches for school, wash her clothes, meet with teachers or doctors appointments that couldn't be scheduled for the weekend.

With them living on the grounds he worked on, and that her school was in, gave him even more time to do those things.

Plus Kanako had the added benefit of having other kids to frequently play with, giving her the proper socialization she needed, and had been lacking previously.

Mio Kayde knew that only definite proof would keep Keitaro from being named the girls father, not that she had any. Everything seemed to be in the green.

She had been surprised to learn, that Kanako had a full understanding of her situation. That was not something the average 8 year old had.

Her interview had shown, that Kanako Urashima was a fun-loving and energetic child, if only slightly impatient. The little girl had been squirming in her seat for most of the talk.

Seeing her now, calmly sitting on the chair next to her brother, leaning into his side, showed a side of the girl Mio hadn't seen yet.

The cases she handled, usually took weeks of paperwork and weighing decisions. She had, at first, been very skeptical of a sped up process. With Kanako snuggled into him, and Keitaro waiting patiently for the next step to begin, Mio wasn't even sure this interview was necessary.

Every expression she saw Kanako make about him, every detail about their lives that she heard, told that Keitaro had done absolutely anything to make sure she was cared for. Even at his own expense if need be.

She flipped over to a new page in her notebook, regarding the young man.

"Urashima-san, What is the first thing you do when you wake up?"

It was a question she liked to use, to get a feel for the person she was speaking with. He didn't give it much thought.

"Pry Kanako-chan off me, and go pee usually."

While the detective laughed lightly, she was actually a little concerned by that comment.

"Pry her off you?" She kept her voice gentle and with no sense of an accusation.

Keitaro itched at the back of his head for a moment.

"Yeah, lately she's been rolling over in her sleep. I've got a handful of shirts with drool stains on them to prove it, if you don't believe me."

She had forgotten that he had been described as a more blunt character then as was usual.

"I see." She jotted down a note of the proximity the two whilst sleeping. The CGC had taken the letter sent to them far more seriously, then she thought was initially intended. Anything less than fool-proof evidence of wrong doing would be seen as mere speculation, and probably thrown out. Whatever they wanted from this man, they wanted it _badly._

Her background gave her the bonus of spotting when someone was lying, or hiding a large truth behind a smaller one.

Keitaro showed none of that. He was just giving her his full honest answer.

What followed, was more than an hour of questions that Keitaro would later forget almost immediately. There were parts about future plans for work, housing, generic life questions.

She had brought up the altercation from yesterday, but seemed to accept his answer, of it being about his promotion to an instructor.

When Mio was done, she placed her notepad down with a smile, and reached for her briefcase. The clasps opened loudly, as they sprung up.

Keitaro watched as she reached in, shuffling through a few papers, as Kanako dozed off on his shoulder, tired from the boring conversation around her.

"Congratulations Urashima-san." Mio slid her briefcase to the end of the table, placing an official looking document down in between them.

It was a thicker material then just regular paper. The bold print and font giving it away as a sort of legal document.

Keitaro realized what this form was, even as he slid it closer to himself, turning it around so he could read it.

"You're a parent." Mio Kayde added, watching as his eyes seemed to get glossy.

This was it, what he'd dreamed would come to him since they left that damned apartment.

All the information was there, his name, Kanakos name, their birthdays, their current address…everything.

All that was needed, was for Keitaro to sign it himself.

Keitaro wanted to share this moment, as Mio pushed her pen to him. He looked at his shoulder, where Kanako had decided to rest her head.

He nudged her lightly.

"Kana-chan."

When she refused to move, he poked her cheek with a finger.

"Kana-chan, wake up." She groaned, swatting at his hand, he probably shouldn't have kept her awake as long as he had last night.

"Daddy, i'm tired, G'way." She mumbled.

Keitaro smiled, turning his head back to the paper in front of him. The form had been pre-signed by the appropriate authority, and only needed him to do the same right next to it.

He took up the pen, feeling its weight. It was heavy, almost seeming like a direct translation of the responsibility he was taking on. He gave a knowing look to the woman across from him.

It was a ploy she probably used, to get people to realize that this situation was no joke. Keitaro held the pen firmly in his hand, decisively carving his name into the page.

Once he'd done that, he held the page up.

"Kanako…You're my daughter now…for real." He whispered.

Like water evaporating off of hot coal, Kanakos eyes opened abruptly, her desire to sleep utterly gone, and turned to him for confirmation.

Keitaro smiled at her, flicking his eyes to the paper in his hands.

She looked over to the paper, giving one eye a quick rub to clear her vision of sleep. Kanako didn't understand how this paper had changed anything, but if he said it did…then it did.

"I never did get an explanation, on why she's called you her father." The detective said from the side.

Kanako quickly glared at the man, then her eyes shifted to the paper, her mind drawing an odd sort of conclusion.

She snatched the paper out of his hands, tearing off a small piece from the top left corner.

"He's _my_ daddy, and you can't take that away!" She held the form to her chest protectively, as if that was the only thing keeping that bond in place.

Ketiaro was looking at the small piece of torn paper in his hand in horror. That didn't void the adoption, did it?

Mio and Keitaro looked at the crumpled paper in her grasp, both unhappy for different reasons.

Mio knew, that her superiors were going to ask about the state the form was in. She also knew that they'd find it _absolutely_ hilarious, once they found out how it happened. She never liked it, when they found humor in someone finding a guardian, a parent.

Kanako seemed to want this, with every fiber of her being. It was, again, something not usually seen in one so young.

"Don't worry about the paper Urashima-san. As long as the document is fully legible, it still stands." She assured.

He breathed a sigh of relief, before giving Kanako the _Give it to me_ gesture. With downcast eyes, she held out the form to him. Keitaro took it gently, laying it on the table, then giving her a one armed hug, showing her he wasn't mad.

He was far too happy right now for that.

"She's called me that, since she was 4. I couldn't get her to stop." Keitaro said to the detective.

The man grinned. "Guess she has no reason to now eh?"

"No…No she doesn't." Keitaro returned it with one of his own.

If his father ever did wake up, he wondered if the man would even care. One of his children cursed his very existence, the other was now named as someone else's.

 **-LineBreak-**

Motoko paced in the room she had been given, along with Suu. She'd heard a few things this morning, that left her agitated and confused.

She had only been further frustrated, when Haruka had taken the day off, to sleep away the rest of the hangover.

It was well into the night, the sun having set several hours ago. She should be preparing to go to bed, but her mind was a whirling mess right now.

Naru and Kistune were in the room with her, watching as she attempted to make grooves into the floor. Suu had gone off to do…something, involving a nocturnal creature.

Some of the things she'd overheard, while trying to deliver the envelopes to her sister, had worried her.

It was true, that Motoko was frightened of Tsuruko, how could she not be? Tsuruko was the pinnacle of a womans strength. She was the strongest member to have ever existed. So why was she to be pushed away, like a useless trinket?

Motoko knew, she'd never be as powerful, as graceful, as her sister. Tsuruko had been among the top, in her early teenage years. But when she was in high school, something changed, just as Motoko was named the heir apparent. Tsuruko changed into a training machine, never giving anyone outside of family the time of day.

Motoko had admired her sister for that, thinking Tsuruko had wanted to become better with her sword, even though Motoko didn't know if that were possible.

Now though… She wondered if it had been a way to stay sane, to keep herself from diving off the cliff leading to an endless emptiness.

If she had heard correctly, Tsuruko was to be married, and give up their way of life.

Solitude was not a problem for Motoko the way it seemed to be for her sister. The loss of her sword however, she knew that would drive her to wits end.

What would she do with herself after that?

A decision made, Motoko started for the door, wanting to get answers. Naru and Kitsune just passed a sake saucer between themselves, seemingly enjoying the unusual state she was in.

They had given up trying to catch her attention, after nearly ten minutes of trying to stop Motoko from pacing.

The stairs were quietly descended, as she made for the phone by the kitchen.

She didn't have a cellphone, Motoko hated them with a passion, because of how distracting they were.

Picking up the old yellowish-white handset, Motoko dialed a number she knew, but had never called, the cellphone of her sister.

"Hmmm…I'm beginning to think I should change my number, so many calls as of late." She heard the lilted voice of her older sister.

"Aneue." Motoko sighed, her sister never made much sense to her.

"Ah! Motoko-han!" She heard Tsuruko become much brighter, and give an amused chuckle at some unshared joke.

"What can I do for you? It is quite late you know."

Motoko resisted the urge to shy away from the conversation. It seemed as though every sentence Tsuruko spoke to her over the last few years, was some sort of criticism, or joke about her personality.

"What I heard today…Aneue, is this true?" She asked seriously.

"Ah ah ah~, I need specifics Motoko-han. A mind reader, I am not."

This seemed to be their perpetual stance, Motoko the serious, Tsuruko the playful.

"You have to marry… _and_ give up the sword?" The words were poison to her tongue.

It had been Tsuruko herself, to show Motoko the way, when her arranged marriage meetings started. How she came back, muttering under her breath about how…disgusting the men had been.

"I do." Tsuruko saying anything, without a jab at her constant serious expression, or how she had often acted as a child, with her bouts of rage, was unusual.

"Why Aneue?" Motoko pleaded.

Tsuruko sighed into her end of the phone.

"The way of the sword is dead Motoko-han. It remains, only as a time honored tradition. A piece of history towards our culture. Kendo tournaments may draw some attention, but beyond the falsehood of combat that they are, the sword has no other use in society."

She could hear Tsuruko shuffling something around on her end, before continuing.

"The family is in the midst of a losing battle. It is no secret that there's been fewer and fewer students for more than a decade. Without bringing our teachings down to the level of a chain of beginners dojos, to appeal to more people, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the estate at the level demanded in the by-laws set up by our great grandparents."

Motoko reeled at what she was hearing, trying to connect the dots, but still not getting the entire picture.

"So you have to be wed, due to our school having financial difficulty?"

Why would they forbid their strongest member from practicing? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to show her off as a beacon of what one could accomplish? Surely that would attract new members.

Motoko felt her pulse start to quicken. She did not like the thought of her future domain being brought to ruin, when she wanted it to flourish.

"In part, yes. I will admit, that the decision for it to be _me,_ came from my own actions. I do not doubt you heard the whispers about me before you left."

She had, and it made her blood boil anytime Motoko thought of it.

 _The scarlet sword_ , some had called her in hushed tones. At first, Motoko hadn't understood what they were talking about. Tsuruko was not overly prone to emotional outbursts, so the meaning was lost on her.

At least, until she came into her teenage years. Motoko refused to think of her sister as a wanton woman, promiscuous and sexually flippant, these were never things she attributed to Tsuruko.

"Yes…" Motoko grumbled.

She had thought that whatever misconception they had about her, had passed a number of years ago. Although, perhaps they had just been more cautious about where they said such things, not allowing unintended ears to catch it.

"Aneue, you're not agreeing with how they talked about you, correct?" She felt that she _had_ to ask that.

Tsuruko gave a light giggle, her humor slightly returning.

"Oh no Motoko-han, I am not some whore."

Motoko felt greatly reassured at those words. Of course they had been lying, or had come to the wrong conclusion somehow.

"I was merely a…Curious teenage girl."

"Curious how?" Motoko asked, feeling her hands clench, as she waited for the answer.

"I think we have strayed from the topic you asked about Motoko-han." Tsuruko said, wanting to avoid giving away details of what had happened.

She would never lie to Motoko, but that didn't mean she was looking forward to divulging her history with a certain brunette. She wanted that to stay hidden just a bit longer if possible.

"Those marriage meetings over the passed few years, have been with some other influential families in Japan. The school has needed a way to expand and get some fresh bodies for a long while. A dowry from the mans family would be given as a wedding gift to be used for the school."

Because the money the Aoyama family held, was not allowed to be brought into the equation, they each knew. It was a way to ensure that the family wouldn't be left without means to provide for themselves, should the school go under.

The elders did not want to dishonor the memory of her great grandparents, by going against the ruling on the subject.

"Aneue, earlier today, you said you could be happy in marrying this man Okaa-sama mentioned, even if it meant putting down your sword. Is this true?"

That was one of two other big questions Motoko had wanted to ask her sister.

"Yes Motoko-han, I believe that with him, I would be happy no matter occupation I hold."

The thought alone, was blasphemous to Motoko. Her sword, her way of life, was the thing that had guided her through the day. It was her release from all the inequality she saw at school, a way to vent her frustration about anything.

"I need to go now. I would like to check up with him, on how the day went while I was away."

Her head snapped up, at the abrupt dismissal.

"Aneue wait!"

"Goodnight Motoko-Han, it was nice speaking with you."

The click echoed in her ears. She hadn't been able to ask what that whole shared path thing meant, when she was talking to Haruka. She'd missed too much of the conversation.

The dial tone sounded, and Motoko placed the phone back onto its resting place, only feeling more curious about the questions that remained.

Perhaps she could talk to Haruka about it in the near future?

 **-LineBreak-**

Keitaro was in a state that he hadn't felt in a long time.

Pure happiness

It was like nothing could bring him down, now that he had secured himself in Kanakos life. He was her father now, and she his daughter. He knew that he should feel the pressure of that statement weighing down on him, but it never came.

He'd already been acting out the position for a long time.

It was just passed 10PM, and Kanako had fallen asleep with half her body already on his own blanket. He just couldn't bring himself to lay down and go to sleep.

He was sitting just outside of their guest room, leaning back and enjoying the view of the stars, that seemed so much vibrant tonight. That was probably just his imagination though.

He had played with Kanako all afternoon, throughout the grounds he maintained. Physically, he was exhausted, but his mind just wouldn't slow down enough for sleep.

 _I'm her father_ , the thought had kept replaying in his mind, over and over again. Every time it brought a warm surge throughout his entire body.

They had seen a few of the older Aoyama members, during their time together today. They'd looked at the scene kindly, even as they rose a brow in curiosity. Keitaro was often seen with her, but he smiled so widely today that it caught their attention.

There had been one member to come up and congratulate him, Kuichi Aoyama, the uncle of Tsuruko. The news of his potential adoption had to have reached the elders, since he'd requested the day off today, in order to deal with it.

Kuichi must have connected the dots, seeing the young man so happy. Keitaro didn't bat an eye when he regarded Kanako as his _niece._ He just figured that it was his way of trying to press harder for him and Tsuruko to get married, as this man seemed to be of the biggest advocates.

"Someones all smiles tonight, I suppose today had positive results?"

Keitaro looked down from the sky, seeing the woman who'd made this all possible so quickly.

She had come from in between the guest houses, likely from the main house. Tonight she wore something similar to when they had gone shopping, a black skirt and a red V-neck t shirt.

The big difference this time around, was the length of the skirt, reaching only half way to her knees. In his happy daze, Keitaro thought that she looked like she personified beauty itself.

The light breeze fluttered her unrestrained hair, and the fabric of her skirt, as she swayed over towards him.

The smile widened, and Keitaro made his way over towards her with large strides.

Tsuruko faltered in her step at the pace he was bearing down towards her, not knowing where this was going to lead, but was hopeful.

The grass felt good underneath his bare feet, cool and refreshing after the hot day. The moonlight came down on her just right, setting her eyes aglow, and highlighting how her face turned into a smile.

His last few steps turned into a jog, as his arms wrapped around the swordswoman. Keitaro lifted her up and spun as he laughed, while Tsuruko held onto his shoulders to keep steady.

"Thank you Tsu-chan. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He stopped, and buried his face into the lower half of her stomach, wanting to hold onto her closer.

From her slightly elevated position, Tsuruko looked down at him in surprise, as Keitaro was never one for emphatic displays.

She could not deny that she greatly enjoyed the way he was holding her with no restraint. One arm at the top of her thighs, the other at the small of her back. Like this, she felt so close to him, and it felt right…natural.

She let a breath out from the close contact, before he set her down. She came down slowly, as his arms gradually loosened around her.

If Keitaro had been looking at anywhere other than her face as he did, she would have teased him about wanting to see under her skirt. It had lifted as she brushed against his arms, he would have seen the lacy garment underneath, had he been paying attention.

His bottom arm had just finished grazing over her ass, when Tsuruko decided to capitalize on this position. She needed some confirmation, that he held some romantic feelings for her. In her mind, it was well passed the time for it.

When her first foot had barely made contact with the ground, Tsuruko put her all into forcing them to the ground with a twist.

One of her hands came to rest at the back of his head, not wanting him injured by her brash move, as the other was clinging onto his flank.

Keitaro gave a heavily hushed yelp, feeling himself loose balance, and quickly descend to the ground. The hand at the back of his head, was cupped and took most of the force out of the impact, but was still left a little dazed.

He had his eyes closed, to try and wait for the world to stop spinning.

They opened, when the hand that had been clutching at his side, came to rest on the left side of his face gently.

If Keitaro thought that Tsuruko looked like a goddess, as the moonlight caressed her face from above, it was nothing compared to having the lunar object directly behind her.

She smiled down at him, as her thumb brushed along his cheek, the moon halfway appearing from the right of her head.

This was when he realized that she was now straddling him, pelvis to pelvis, chest to chest. There was very little room between them.

Keitaro would have apologized for the inappropriate positioning, but her expression, and knowing that she'd been trying to push for a relationship stopped him.

He had come to care for this woman a great deal, more than he would readily admit, but he would _not_ be the one to initiate anything.

Keeping his eyes on hers was starting to become difficult, as the neck line of her shirt was giving quite a tempting view. Keitaro could see that the woman on top of him knew, that she had his attention, and knew where it was drifting towards.

Tsuruko didn't seem to mind, if anything, her smile only seemed to widen.

Her hand that was behind his head pulled itself out, resting on the other side of his face, as her eyes kept drifting towards his lips.

'What's going on with her? She's never been so aggressive before.' Keitaro thought.

His immediate thought, was he'd somehow given her a signal, that had been misinterpreted. The other night perhaps, when she was massaging the tension from his shoulders.

He'd been nervous, felt so overwhelmed by how quickly things were moving, that he'd just completely relaxed into her. Keitaro hadn't thought about how that might appear to her.

Keitaro saw her face lower to his, and didn't know how he wanted to respond.

He wasn't given much time, as she closed that small distance quickly, latching her lips onto his.

Soft, warm, gentle. Her touch on his cheeks, her lips on his were all of these things. With just a simple touch of one body part to another, Tsuruko had communicated a deep seated fire that burned within her.

She didn't hold the chaste kiss for long, but it somehow carried how very deeply she wanted this.

Just as quickly as his concerns of such a display of intimacy came, Keitaro felt it fade away.

This was just as he remembered, with Haruka. He still needed to know if he was bound to have this happen with any Ki adept woman, or if he had stumbled on that 1 in 15 billion chance for finding 2 women that made him feel like his soul was complete.

That saying that every person has a soulmate? It was a direct relation to this very scenario.

Tsuruko separated from him for only long enough to draw one elongated breath, looking into his eyes lovingly, before diving back down to him.

Perhaps it was a reaction from his time with Mira, maybe on some deeper level, he wanted things to move forward with Tsuruko. Whatever the cause, Keitaro had been responding to the kiss just as eagerly as she initiated it.

Her lips crashed harder onto his, her fingers curling against his cheeks. Tsuruko felt like a hole in her heart was filled, when she kissed him. Nothing else mattered right then, but the two of them.

Logically, she knew that Kanako was first before all else. But this wave of complete contentment came over her, as her entire body relaxed on top of him.

She felt a smile want to break over her face, when she felt his hands ghost up her sides, feather light touches that left a trail of fire behind them.

Tsuruko hadn't intended for this to be how things ended up. But _spirits above and beyond_ did she love it. She loved him.

There, she admitted it.

She knew within a day of meeting him, that Keitaro Urashima was special. She just hadn't realized that he would be special to _her_ specifically.

His hands swiped back down to the lowest parts of her hips, just above her ass. She was honestly wondering what she could do, to prod him into groping her fully.

Feeling the things she was right now, Tsuruko understood how Haruka could say the things she had over the phone.

With this understanding, came even more resolve to have her and Haruka come together for a common love, and common goal. Which was to keep this feeling from leaving them forever.

As of this moment, Tsuruko never wanted to have her body separated from him. If she could forgo eating or sleeping, in favor of keeping this position, she would.

The torture that Haruka must have endured…Her friend was truly stronger in spirit then she'd ever thought. She had gone 6 years without seeing him.

She wiped the thought from her mind, vowing to deal with that later.

Tsuruko raised her hips with a smirk as she kissed him. Her tongue glided out in search of his.

The change of pace in the kiss had his attention, or at least she thought it did, because his hands were now resting exactly where she wanted them, and he hadn't moved them yet.

She gave a low and short moan, as his tongue came out to meet hers, and his hands clenched at the same time.

This time with Keitaro seemed to be revealing more and more that she had overlooked, or just not thought about at all.

His tongue danced with hers, with such precise and fluid movements, that she was starting to lose all higher brain function. Keitaro was coaxing her deeper into his efforts, begging her to surrender everything to him.

She almost did just that, before realizing that this was what he'd learned to do in his time with that _group._ He'd learned to get women to give in…

The worst part was, Keitaro was most likely so conditioned in this aspect, that he probably had no idea of the effect it was having on her.

Tsuruko pulled away abruptly, her breaths short. Her eyes locked onto his, as her chest heaved in steady motions. Those short breaths left her for a moment, as his normally light brown eyes, appeared to look like molten gold under the lunar light.

It was captivating, enchanting even. The feel of his muscled figure taking deep steady breaths only added to this strange allure that she'd never experienced.

She knew what she had to do, what her initial purpose was. But for the life of her, Tsuruko didn't want to ruin this moment, as she didn't know how he would respond.

Her initial query of his adoption had been pretty obvious with how he responded.

Now she had to get the more difficult parts.

His grandmother had wanted two envelopes delivered to him, which was apparent because his name was scripted on the front of them.

That would lead into how she had come to possess them. That was where the hard part lay.

"She's mine Tsu-chan. I'm a dad." He said softly, eyes glistening in what she assumed were restrained happy tears.

"Kei-" She tried to start getting to the heart of the matter, only for him to make it harder, as he took one of her hands and kissed the back of it sweetly.

"And it only happened so fast, because of you. I can never thank you enough, for what you've done for me."

Tsuruko knew that to be untrue. It was mostly because of the way Keitaro conducted himself. He was honest, hardworking and honorable. Well…working in a sex trade wasn't honorable, but hadn't been given much of a choice, if he wanted Kanako to stay safe. At least, that was from the information she had gained from Haruka.

She wanted to kiss him again, from the sweet and adoring display. He was truly one of a kind.

"If there's anything I can do to repay you…Just name it."

The honorable thing to respond with, was that he deserved everything that transpired today.

But her acknowledgment of being in love with him, and what she had to share, made Tsuruko feel a little selfish. She wanted to ensure they could move passed what he'd be told.

"Forgive me." She whispered.

The hand that Keitaro had kissed, was still in his grasp, with his fingers lightly tracing over her own. They stopped at she'd said.

"Forgive you for what?" He asked, slightly louder than the whisper they'd been talking in for a while now.

Her now freed hand, came back to rest on his cheek.

She could feel his pulse rising rapidly, see his eyes dilating as if he were in danger, his muscle tensed to be ready at any moment…even from her if need be.

While that thought hurt a little, she understood. She just asked for forgiveness, while having him in a position to be struck down. The only uplifting part, was that he hadn't considered this before now.

It told her that Keitaro was comfortable around her, but didn't trust her absolutely.

"I have held personal information from you, for the past 24 hours. Information that I now believe you would have wanted immediately."

She gave a hard swallow.

"And I have learned things about you, that I don't think you ever wanted me to know."

His breathing had just gotten under control, only to start getting rapid and shallow again. She could feel his entire body tensed, ready to try and get out from under her.

Tsuruko laid herself back onto him entirely, grabbing his head to stare directly into her eyes.

"I promise you Kei, I mean you no harm."

She tried to go and kiss him lightly to show him how sincere she was, only for Keitaro to turn his head to the side. An action that Tsuruko was unaware could ever deliver physical pain to someone.

But it did. It _hurt_ , and in a way that no remedy could fix.

"What did you learn?"

His eyes were shut tight, his jaw clenched.

Tsuruko pulled back, her chest felt like it had been stabbed by her very own sisters blade. She spoke with a shaky voice.

"In order to keep Kanako safe, you-" Tsuruko had to clear her throat before continuing.

"You worked in the sex trade…" She saw him look over to her with glassy eyes, as if he was driving any and all emotion to be bottled up.

"You were a prostitute."

Silence

It drifted around and through them for what seemed like hours, but was more likely only a handful of seconds. Tsuruko watched as he just stared at her, like he was awaiting orders. She'd seen this look before, on the few missions she had been the lead on. Some of the members that had been to the previous wars, had that same look.

It was haunting to see on someone as young as Keitaro. It spoke gravely of the mental trauma his past had on him.

"When would you have me leave Aoyama-sama?" His voice was flat, with no emotion.

But it was the words themselves, that had her reeling back the hardest. He had reverted back even further then when they first met, and it was heart wrenching.

He thought she would evict him? For something he couldn't control?

"Never!" She bellowed without thinking. Her voice was loud, and echoed off the trees and buildings alike, as she gave him a heated stare.

Didn't he understand? Was it that impossible for him to believe that she cared for him?

Tsuruko should be insulted that he would think she would try to control him with blackmail. She needed to reverse this, and she needed to do it now!

She was surprised that the raise of her voice didn't cause any sort of movement from him, which only proved the conditioning even more.

Keitaro was used to being yelled at, to being struck. When he reigned himself in like he was now, she probably could have abused him to the point of needing to be hospitalized, before he even whimpered.

What had she done? Why did she think this would be a good idea to bring up now?

Tsuruko could feel hot tears building in her eyes, at the sight of the withdrawn man that she'd come to love.

"I can't believe i've ruined everything so quickly." She said, feeling the lump in her throat grow larger, and harder to hold back.

"All I wanted, was to spend some time with you, if you were still awake. I thought you would be stressed from today, and maybe I could help you again."

She put her head down to his shoulder, sliding her hands around the back of his neck.

"I love you Keitaro! All I want, is for all of us to be happy together! To have kids, and grow old together!"

She started to sob into his shirt uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry Kei…I never should have pried. I shouldn't have gone to see Haruka. I shouldn't have asked Kanako all those questions."

She could feel, more than hear, Keitaro take a sharp breath in.

But she knew it wasn't a good response. It sounded pained, instead of relieved.

But honestly, what could she expect? He had no idea that she was even in the country. For all he knew, his entire family had abandoned him and Kanako.

She could feel him starting to move, but Tsuruko acted first, finally starting to get ahead of his thoughts.

Tsuruko pulled back, placing a finger over his lips, to stop any words from coming out.

Looking at him, she could see that he looked even more pained than before, just at the mention of Haruka.

Her tears were still running, but she spoke firmly.

"Not a single word mister."

His jaw snapped shut.

Tsuruko should have known, solely based on the response of her friend, that these two were much more in love than she was with Keitaro. Yes, she loved him.

But the two of them…their bond had time to develop unrestrained. She would catch up eventually, but at the moment, she was the odd one out. Left in the dust as it were.

Haruka was right, she was the late bloomer. But that was no ones fault. They'd lived in separate cities all their lives. And events beyond their control had drifted them apart. She could live with that for a while…But she _would_ catch up soon.

"She called me last night, her and I have been friends for a long time."

She pressed her finger a little harder when it looked like he was about to speak.

"We talked. She was _very_ upset, because my mother said that you and I were getting married soon. Haruka told me that you and her have a history together."

That was putting it mildly, considering their age, and the amount of devotion Haruka had spoken with.

"I went to see her today" She saw his eyes widen, understanding that to mean that Haruka was relatively close by.

"Mostly, we shared stories, since we haven't seen each other in almost 10 years."

She paused, wanting to get these words across in the right way.

"But the main reason Kei? I went to talk to her, because I can't see myself without you. I had to tell her, in person, that i'm not willing to let this chance pass me by."

Tsuruko wanted to see what his reaction to this information would be, without adding what her and Haruka had come to agree upon as she was leaving.

Turmoil was clear in those near golden eyes of his. How they seemed to lighten under the moon, she had no idea. But she was enjoying the sight.

"She said something rude and vulgar, I bet. What was it?" He asked, once she had removed her finger from his lips.

"Verbatim?" She asked, with an amused smile, as she wiped her tears away.

Keitaro nodded weakly, knowing that whatever she said, would have been designed to piss off the other party.

That amused smile widened.

"She said that, if we did get married-" She leaned close to his ear to deliver the more racy part.

"She would barge in, drop to her knees, and suck your cock in front of everyone there. She'd moan loud enough for my whole family to hear as you came in her mouth."

The imagery alone was enough to get him to shiver, which was quite a feat.

Keitaro hadn't felt a single ounce of sexual desire in almost two years. Not since he had deemed himself damaged goods. That was also the last time he'd fantasized about Haruka, what she looked like, what they could do together.

He could admit when a woman was beautiful, but that inner urge hadn't been there in so long.

"Yea, that's my Haru-chan alright…"

One of the only brief surges of a desire to have sex?

That was when Tsuruko had almost kissed him after dinner. And then tonight, which was more powerful than the last. But Keitaro had a level of control over his body that was uncanny, in that aspect.

If he didn't want to get hard, he wouldn't.

Tsuruko seemed to pout for the briefest of moments. She had just confessed to the guy, and he was declaring another woman as his.

Deep down she understood, but still…

"Am I that far behind Kei?" She asked quietly, their noses almost touching.

Her smile was rueful, like that of someone who knew that they were second best.

If only she had met him sooner. If only that marriage agreement had followed through.

Where would they be now?

Would they have kids? Would they still be in Kyoto? Would she be a housewife, or have a job?

Her family was rather strict on the terms set in her agreements.

They wanted a child to be brought into the Gods Cry school. They had no doubt that a child of hers would be another prodigy. Her mother had been one, she was another, and then there was Motoko.

"What do you mean?"

Before Tsuruko could come up with anything, she felt something that was absolutely blissful, but had her squirming and writhing atop him.

A buzzing sound met both of their ears. That buzzing came from the medial side of Keitaros pocket, vibrating right at her core.

 **-LineBreak-**

"Haruka-san, are you going to join us outside?"

After she'd finally woken up, Haruka had been in one of the weirdest moods any of the girls had seen.

They had all agreed, that a hungover Haruka, was not something they wanted to bring upon themselves regularly.

Naru had seen her reaction to the guy around her own age this morning.

She felt the anger at the blatant false feelings was well deserved. What Naru, along with any of the others hadn't expected, was Haruka declaring that she'd been in love for most of her life.

Kitsune seemed the least shocked of them all, so she had probably known already…somehow, if that picture she flung was any indication.

Naru would have to grill her best friend about it later. The chances were decidedly low though, because Kitsune and Haruka had this weird way of not sharing whatever they talked about alone.

"Eh…Why the fuck not…" Haruka answered.

They were planning on having a fire on the beach, a staple of the few times they'd all been together on this trip.

It was a shame that it was almost over. Being looked at like a piece of meat was always something that Naru detested, but she enjoyed the sun and the beach.

Sharing it with Granny Hina, Haruka, and her friends made up for it though.

Naru felt that Granny and Haruka in particular, could use this little respite. They had been so tense for quite a while, but unwilling to share what was bugging them.

Naru was a girl of the masses, she firmly believed, that if something effected one, it effected all in their abode. There weren't very many of them after all, and she liked to think they were all close.

Shinobu was the most reserved, but the girl was settling into the group nicely. She was so nice and sweet, that Naru was almost loathing the day that the little bluenette entered high school.

The boys were going to be chasing after her nonstop. She'd have to team up with Motoko to teach Shinobu a little self defense before then. That was a _must._

Suu was the most carefree of them all, and while she worried the girl _could_ get tempted into something nefarious, chances were that her inventions would take care of it.

She'd still watch over her though.

Kitsune, she knew, was a lost cause. She loved to chat up whatever decent looking guy she could. If she could come away with a few bucks or a bottle of booze, all the better. She had no idea if Kitsune had… _done it_ yet…But she'd like to think not. Her friend was a flirt, not a floozy.

Motoko wasn't even a concern, she was more prepared than any of the tenants, herself included. Naru had noted that Motoko seemed to be paying closer attention to the elders lately though.

In the usual day to day, Granny would be smiling and up beat, ready to give a kind and helpful word to any of the girls. This had almost stopped entirely for about two weeks, before slowly returning.

Haruka though…The tea shop owner had been in a sour mood ever since she had woken them all up one morning with her yelling.

No one had gotten any of the words, except Motoko, which something about pedophiles.

Naru had even watched Haruka burn down a cigarette in under a minute when she was particularly stressed.

She wanted to help, but she didn't know what was going on, therefore had no idea _how_ to help.

There was little doubt in her mind, that whatever had gone on with Haruka and Motokos sister, was part of the reason. She had a suspicion, that this guy Haruka was in love with, was the problem.

She could just imagine how this guy was acting all sweet and innocent, and Tsuruko probably came over to give the dirt on him, probably cheating on her or something.

Guys were total scumbags, as far as she'd learned.

They picked you up when you were down, made you feel special and appreciated.

Then they would just disappear, no word, no warning.

They were just gone.

Haruka had been acting rather stiff and unsure of herself since Tsuruko left. Naru had seen it, when the woman thought no one else was watching.

Granny had been the only one to decline sitting outside by the fire, claiming to be too tired for such a thing, and no one had protested.

The elderly woman had been making a few trips to who knows where while they were out here. She came back with a few envelopes, and that was the end of it, it seemed.

So here they all sat, in a circle around a fire.

Naru had her back to the ocean, Kitsune to her left, then Suu, Motoko, Haruka and Shinobu.

It was flickering nicely, the logs built in a pyramid set up.

Suu of course, only had food and her inventions on the mind, and had wanted smores.

Thankfully, Shinobu had the forethought to bring the ingredients out, and roasted a few for the never ending stomach that was Kaolla Suu, MolMol Princess.

"I can't believe we'll be heading back after tomorrow. It seemed so short." Naru said wistfully.

Perverts aside, she'd enjoyed the tan she had gained by wearing a bikini nearly the whole time.

"We're cutting it short, since Granny has a few things to take care off back in Hinata, that can't be handled other than in person." Haruka answered, lighting her new cigarette.

Ah that's right, last year they stayed out here a week longer. As much as she liked the break from studying, Naru really had to hit it hard these next few months.

Otherwise…What would Seta think of her, if she failed?

The thought alone sent a shiver up her spine. Now _that_ was a man. Easy going, he didn't leer at her, had interesting stories, was well travelled, and god was he handsome!

Tall, thin but not emaciated, those glasses and that light scruff. She could feel the heat wanting to climb up her cheeks just thinking about him. But she couldn't! She had to set a proper example for the younger two girls.

They needed to know that almost every other guy would only want to get in your pants and then take off.

Suddenly she remembered that Seta was a guy that left her, and her mood soured slightly. It had been a while since then, but it was still a sore spot.

"So next year, we'll be here longer?" Shinobu asked meekly.

She was so sweet. Her voice hardly carried over the crackles of the fire, but that just made you want to listen to her words that much more.

Naru, a child of divorce herself, felt for the girl. That was why she was here after all.

"Can't say for yes or no kid." Haruka said with a shrug.

Naru thought that was odd.

Granny had seemed to always keep a similar schedule, she liked repetition. Naru felt the start of her anger and suspicion start to rise.

Something was being held from them.

She hated not knowing things.

"Ay Haruka-san, ya call that number yet?" Kitsune asked.

As Haruka glared at the fox of the group, everyone else seemed to perk up, especially Motoko, which was odd. Maybe she'd overheard something when she went upstairs this morning.

She'd have to question a 2nd suspect now. Kitsune and Motoko.

"That's none of your business Mitsune…"

Haruka brought out the real name, which meant the topic needed to be dropped, and fast.

Kitsune apparently, didn't get the hint.

"Whaddaya waitin' for? Ya said it yurself… She's just gonna get one over on ya, if you wait."

Naru wasn't sure she had ever seen Haruka look so conflicted before. It was like she was back in high school, waiting to hear back from the boy she confessed to.

Wait…So the guy Haruka has been _in love_ with for 12 years, has another girl?

'HE'S SCUM! WORST OF THE WORST! I'LL PUMMEL HIM!' She raged in her mind.

Her time in high school had shown her how guys liked to play the field, or whatever they called it.

The only thing Naru could relate it to, was adultery.

Naru was completely flabbergasted, when Haruka stood up, taking the cigarette from her mouth, and downing her entire glass of whisky in one go. She'd watched Haruka pour that glass, thinking it would last her the entire time out by the fire, and it was an entire 12 oz glass of whisky!

"Atta gurl! Now go gettem!" Kitsune cheered, raising her bottle of sake.

Haruka looked at Kitune, like she wanted to flip her the bird. She thought better of it, since the younger girls were around, thankfully.

"Fine… As much as i'd like to wait another day or two, I know that's probably a bad idea, knowing _her._ "

Haruka reached into a pocket that Naru didn't know was there, pulling out a cell phone that only Kitsune apparently knew she owned.

"If I leave her to do something like this on her own, she'll hang the both of us."

What in the world was happening right now?! Kitsune making sense to Haruka! Haruka having a cell phone!

Haruka walked off into the darkness, undoubtedly to make her call.

And…wait, where's Suu?

 **-LineBreak-**

He'd watched Tsuruko, confused at first, then with an amused grin as he understood what was happening.

Seeing the strongest of the Gods Cry school writhing, trying not to show how she felt, was entirely worth the slap on the arm for the chuckle he let out once he pulled his phone from his pocket.

Getting a call on the device was strange enough.

Seeing Tsuruko look at him expectantly, when he didn't recognize the number, was even stranger.

He felt a little nervous, as his hand made to press the green button.

It was too late for some sort of telemarketer, he hoped. It was already passed 11pm. But there was always the chance that Mira had somehow gotten his number.

And he had no desire, in this life or the next, to associate with her anymore. He was done with that life.

Keitaro would not be able to convince Tsuruko, that he hadn't popped a slight chubby at the sounds of her light moan, brief as it was. Apparently his body still had the ability to betray him.

With a slight shake to his hand, Keitaro brought the phone up to his ear.

It was strange to be doing this at all, let alone with a woman straddling him still, but she seemed to refuse to even consider moving.

"Hello?" His voice was unsure, like he was absolutely sure that it Mira on the other end of that line.

He could just imagine her, sitting on a fancy chair, smug grin on her face in her hotel suite, naked as she was known to do.

"Kei?"

He could swear that he stopped breathing for a moment.

That voice…It was deeper than he remembered it being.

The way her voice popped the 'K' in his nickname, and the inflection told him who this was.

Only…He didn't want to believe he was _finally_ talking to her. To his Haru-chan.

With wide eyes, he looked over to Tsuruko, who looked all too proud of herself at the moment. She must have given his number to her, although how Tsuruko got it, was still a mystery to him.

He didn't even know it.

"Haru-chan?" He asked hopefully. And by every god in existence, he hoped that stinging in his eyes was from whatever perfume Tsuruko might be wearing.

He couldn't smell any, but it was there, he was sure of it.

He wasn't about to cry from just hearing Harukas voice.

"Yeah…It's me." He let her voice filter through his ears, his mind, through his heart and soul. He didn't even think of the time he'd stayed quiet, before she started speaking again.

"I've missed you Kei."

He could've answered, but Keitaro was still just taking in her voice. It was like everything could be fine again, the way it had been when they were kids.

"I'm sorry." Now it sounded like she was actually being wrought with emotion, something even _he_ had a hard time achieving.

"I should've looked into things myself, I should've been there for you, when you needed me."

Whether conscious or not, Keitaro had gripped the nearby hand of Tusurko tightly. He never liked the few times Haruka had gotten emotional. It had only been when he tweaked his shoulder when they were young and alone, and then at his mothers funeral.

Other than that, she had been a pillar to lean on.

But in this situation? There were no pillars, no columns, no raised boulders to hold onto.

"Haru-"

He was cut off abruptly.

"No Keitaro!"

He closed his mouth.

"I _love_ you! I've said it, i've expressed it!"

She took a calming breath.

"But when you really needed me… I wasn't there. I was hundreds of miles away, thinking that you were doing okay, going to school and _not_ being sucked into Yakuza hands."

Keitaro didn't know if he should stop breathing, or if his heart should explode. The fact that she addressing the matter so bluntly, showed how much she had been affected.

Whether it was months later or right away, didn't matter.

"I didn't ask any questions…until that cop called me. When he told me you and Kanako were missing."

Wait….

 _That_ was when she started asking questions?!

Not the 18 months prior?!

He'd thought about her every day!

Every _FUCKING_ day!

Any time he set up another frame for a set, he wondered where she was, how she was doing, what she was doing.

And….She didn't even…

"I thought about you all the time…But Granny told me that you were doing fine in college…"

He took a breath, when he felt Tsuruko squeeze his hand assuringly.

Should he be underneath another woman right now?

That seemed pretty counter intuitive, now that he was talking to the woman he'd promised to start a life with.

"So she lied to you…."

It wasn't a question, just a mere statement of fact.

Granny Hina had _lied,_ something that she absolutely detested.

"Yea, she says the Shuzens made her."

That made sense, because Mira had been _very_ adamant about keeping him in her grasp, until it had cost her manpower. But intimidation had cost nothing.

"Haru-chan…I'm sorry for-"

As usual, she knew what he was going to say. She always did when he had that somber tone.

"Don't you fucking dare Keitaro… Don't you dare apologize for what happened."

This woman…She knew him too well, even now.

Keitaro had thought he'd changed entirely.

Apparently not, because Haruka didn't even need to be in front of him to know what he'd say.

"That's all we're going to talk about this, over the phone."

Keitaro finally opened his eyes, seeing the slightly pained eyes of Tsuruko.

He realized that he'd been squeezing her hand rather hard for a while now.

"Have you talked to Tsu-chan about today?"

She seemed to regain her normal indifference when regarding the swordswoman.

"Umm…Yes?" He answered, unsure.

"Get the fuck outta here, you damn wanna be monkey!" Haruka yelled into the phone, Keitaro took it away from his ear.

"Sorry." He heard her shuffling away from wherever she was for a moment.

"What'd you tell her?" She asked after a brief silence.

The only thing Keitaro could think of, that could relate to this, was Tsuruko saying she loved him…Which he hadn't answered yet.

"Nothing… I didn't have much of a chance to. You called right after, but i'm glad you did."

Tsuruko took a concerned look, her other hand to come to his and clasp it.

"Kei, honey, I think…it's okay. It might even be for the best."

Tsuruko, from her spot on top of him, watched as his eyes closed tightly again, this time much more painfully.

Whatever Haruka had said, it was not agreeing with him.

"These things aren't really in our control…so…"

She left the statement hanging, thinking that Keitaro had known about the conversation with Tsuruko at the cafe.

"This is how it's going to be I guess."

Keitaro took that to mean, they'd only ever speak over the phone. That was something he'd _never_ be able to stand.

Aside from making sure Kanako had what she needed, Haruka was the thing he'd been reaching for.

"Haruka please…. Don't do this. I know I fucked up our plan. But don't leave me behind like Granny and Aunt Yoko."

Tsurukos hands reached out before she could register the action. The phone was snatched into her grip, brought hastily to her ear.

"HARUKA, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" She yelled.

There was silence for a while, before Haruka answered.

"Tsu-chan, what the hell _did_ you tell him?" She asked.

"That I love him!" She answered immediately.

After Tsuruko said that, she realized where things had gone wrong, before Haruka had called.

She hadn't talked to him about the whole two women thing.

Her eyes widened, just as Haruka caught on to the same thing.

"And that was it, right?"

She gave that damning laugh, that Haruka seemed capable of.

"Dammit Tsuruko…He thinks i'm breaking up with him."

Her friend hadn't needed an answer….She just knew.

Haruka knew that she hadn't gotten to the important part yet.

And then she hung up...

 **END!**

 **Whew...that was a lot of work.**

 **A lots happened, sort of.**

 **I'm trying to move things a little quicker, while not deviating too much from the characters usual persona.**

 **Obivously you're seeing more sides of Haruka and Tsuruko, so that might Seem OOC.**

 **The adoption lady is not important, don't pay attention to her. Detective will come back later, which is why I focused more on him. Again...this was all originally a 27,000 word chapter that I broke up between chps 5-7.**

 **i'm going to start lightly branching into the Hinata girls. Motoko more so, because she's the sister.**


	8. Hard Bargain

There seemed to be only one facet of his life, where Keitaro knew without a doubt, what he had to do. That was when it pertained to Kanako. Everything else was in a weird state of what-ifs. Especially with the relationships he'd developed with Haruka and Tsuruko.

It had been three days, since that night where Tsuruko pinned him to the ground, and the phone call. He had pushed the events to the back of his mind, in favor of giving his newly adopted daughter all the attention he could, before and after work.

Since then, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of the beautiful swordswoman. It was almost as if she was avoiding him, which was entirely in the realm of possibility. Keitaro wasn't sure what he'd feel if he saw her right now.

He cared for her, a great deal if he was honest with himself, but things had gotten too complicated for his liking. It had happened in a near instant too. One moment, he's all but sure that Haruka had moved on with her life. The next, he finds out that Tsuruko is in love with him, and Haruka _hasn't_ moved on, but seemingly doesn't want to be with him.

Oh Tsuruko had said that wasn't true, and there was more to it than that, but hadn't elaborated. If his head had been clearer, he would have asked what she meant by that. They separated after Keitaro said that he needed to turn in for the night.

Now that he'd had a while to think over the events of the night, he was curious.

Keitaro felt that if he had all the information, he'd know how to move forward. Tsuruko had been wearing him down into accepting her affections, and the idea of being with her was one that he liked. But it had been his past, both with Mira and Haruka that had him holding back.

"Suddenly, being a single parent seems much easier then the alternative." He said to no one, putting the panel back on for an outlet in the entryway of the main house.

At least then, he wouldn't have to worry about someone else's feelings, on top of raising Kanako.

"While I don't doubt your ability, it would be a shame to cut yourself off in such a way." He nearly jumped when the voice came from directly behind him.

"Fufufu, that never gets old." He turned quickly, to see an amused Chiharu Aoyama standing behind him.

Keitaro wasn't sure if she was just that stealthy, or if he'd been too in his thoughts to notice her. Judging by the glint in her eyes, he'd guess that she did it on purpose.

He stood and was about to bow, when he remembered something that Tsuruko had said. That the woman before him had upset Haruka by spreading false information. Respect was not something he took lightly, and the matriarch lost a large portion of his. He did _not_ like manipulative people.

"Good afternoon" He turned back to what he was doing, acknowledging her presence and nothing more. He was not about to get into a discussion of romance with her.

He half expected her to get angry at his dismissal of her, hearing her give what sounded like a remorseful sigh was not expected.

"I've offended you somehow." He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If Chiharu noticed the change in the her daughters whereabouts when not busy, he had the feeling she'd look into why that was. And thus, would find out about the other night.

She chuckled quietly when he didn't answer, instead paying more attention to the screws being tightened.

"You know, if I were any of the other elders, i'd be quite disgruntled with you right now."

The last screw in place and flush, he placed the screwdriver into the bag at his side. He knew the words about to spill from his mouth were a bad idea, in theory, but he found little reason to care.

"Slander isn't something I appreciate, I don't care who it comes from."

With his task here complete, Keitaro was forced to turn towards her again, since she was in the direction of the door. To his surprise, she actually _did_ look a bit remorseful, but only in the slightest amount.

"I was under the impression that you knew… _something_ , of the arrangement."

At his raised brow, her head dipped a bit and eyes widened in surprise.

"You… have no idea what i'm talking about, do you?"

"Is it about this whole marriage thing, between your daughter and I?" He asked, after searching his brain for what she might be referring to. That was one thing Tsuruko mentioned, that he wanted to know more about.

She nodded, and collected herself. Her cane/sword adjusted in her grip as she did so.

"I had come to ask for you to come to my office, I see now that the conversation will need to be expanded upon."

Keitaro was of two minds, if he was to be fired, he'd much rather she just say it now so he could get Kanako and leave. If circumstances permitted, he'd give his good bye to Tsuruko. The other side of him was curious about what she would tell him.

On the off chance that he _wasn't_ fired, and that this marriage thing followed him for a while longer, he decided to go with her.

"Now, or once i'm done for the day?"

She gave a smile that was so alike to her daughters. "Now would be better, I wouldn't want to intrude on your father daughter time."

 **-LineBreak-**

Haruka had her thumbs digging in to her temples with a force that was very likely on the verge on bone breaking. She usually hired some extra help at her tea shop for when she was at the beach side cafe, most of the time it worked out fine, and the person was a good fit.

For whatever reason, she had decided that Kentaro Sakata was a good fit this year.

'What the fuck was I thinking?'

They had only been back for 3 days, and the hormone flooded moron was proving to be a chore to have around. Sure, he was good with customers, but the interactions with the dorm girls had her wanting to kick him to the curb.

At the very least, her new-hire problem was keeping her mind off of Keitaro for a bit each day. She'd tried calling his phone last night. When it went straight to voicemail, and she called immediately after that, she felt like an addict trying to get her vice of choice.

"Proably hired him because he'd look like Kei if he had lighter hair." She grumbled. The first time she saw him, it had just been from a quick scan of the room. When her eyes passed over a thin, brown haired male with an easy going smile, her heart had early jumped into her throat.

It took all of 2 seconds of a closer inspection to see how different they truly were. Kentaro may have an easy going smile, but it was just a front for the more predatory nature he had. The guy was just looking for a way to pick up girls. He had no need for the money he'd earn working for her.

Apparently, Naru was the main target. Anytime the book worm was anywhere _near_ the shop, his charm got turned up to eleven, or what he thought was charm anyway.

She'd have turned him loose by now, except her shop was seeing a swing in business, and she could really use the help. Plus, she hated training new people.

There was also the concern that Granny Hina mentioned in passing that morning. Keitaro hadn't contacted the lawyer about his inheritance yet. That could be explained though. If he continued to think that she'd ended any relationship they had, he was probably just focusing on Kanako and his work.

There was also the more traitorous thought of Tsuruko swooping in and keeping him to herself. That thought was easily thrown out, knowing that Tsuruko always kept to her word if at all possible. If Keitaro had gone to Tsuruko for a rebound, she'd have heard about it from her friend, of that she was sure.

It wouldn't be a pleasant conversation, but Tsuruko was too honor bound for her own good in some cases.

Without opening her eyes, Haruka fished out a cigarette from her pocket, quickly lighting it and taking a long pull. The burn at the back of her throat, and the feel of the smoke entering her lungs helped calm her down. It was a nasty habit, picked up from the dope and Julia on their travels.

The heat of the day was bearing down on her, as she sat on the back steps on her shop. But right now, she needed a moment to herself. She could only take so much of the newbies fake smile towards her younger customers.

His application made so much sense now that she thought of her customer base. It was mostly female, the ages changed with the time of day. The early morning was the older crowd, late 20's up to late 60's.

The afternoons were the girls getting off of school and heading home, guess which shift Kentaro wanted to be placed on?

"He still gettin' on yer nerves?" The slurred drawl came with a plop right beside her, the scent of sake wafting right along with it. She'd been spending more time than usual with the fox, ever since she was caught going through the box of pictures.

"He's like a rock in my shoe that I can't get rid of." Was the gruff reply, followed by a stream of cancerous smoke blown right at her companion.

Finally opening her eyes, Haruka saw the bottle Kitsune had was being offered, a gesture not taken lightly from the almost perpetual drunk of the group. After a moments thought, Haruka took it, the burn her half mouthful gave was different but soothing all the same.

Kitsune took several chugs once she had her bottle back, wiping her chin with her thumb once she was done.

"It's been 3 days." Kitsune said, as if that was supposed to mean anything.

"Yup." Haruka turned to look at the exhaled smoke, as it drifted into the sky, scattering as if it had never existed in the first place.

"Ah think a turn aroun' of the golden rule's fair play, don't you?" That extra drink seemed to be getting Kitsune closer to being passed out than was usual, Haruka took that to mean she'd lost a fair bit on her horse races.

"Spit it out, will you?" The annoying throb in her head wasn't being helped by her vague statements and questions.

"Alright alright, no need to bite ma head off." The defensive gesture was ruined by the sloshing and near spilling alcohol. When Kitsune opened her eyes just a fraction more, Haruka knew where this conversation would go.

As much as she didn't really _want_ to talk to anyone about it, she knew her habit of keeping things bottled up would only mean she'd explode later on. The burn in her chest that time wasn't from smoke or a liquid, but remembering how Keitaro was so good at getting her to talk.

"Wha happened that night? You were salty as a sailor after that call." That was putting it lightly. She'd just about had Shinobu in tears when dishing out orders for packing up the beach cafe.

"You mean a salty sailor….nevermind." Haruka disregarded trying to correct her, once she saw the head tilt start.

"I called too soon. He thinks I broke up with him. And his phone has been off ever since." Kitsune stayed silent, watching Haruka. Whether it was because her alcohol ridden mind was slow in processing the words, or something else, Haruka didn't know.

"Wha's gotchu holdin' a torch for him after all this time?" Haruka doubted that was meant to be anything other than a private thought. Nonetheless, it brought better memories.

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand." The number of people who did, was dwindling year by year. The teachings that her family employed was a dying thing, just as it was with the Aoyama family.

"C'mon Haruka-san, I ain't some prude, gimme the details." Kitsune was taking it in a way that, while equally as true, wasn't the real reason. The physical sensations Keitaro brought were only a small part of it.

She had only glossed over what she knew had happened to Keitaro, and left out the sex worker part. As much as she hated knowing he'd been through that, she wondered how good he'd be in bed now.

"Ever hear in stories, that when you find _the one_ , everything is different? A touch feels much more than a touch, a kiss feels a thousand times better, things like that?"

Kitsune nodded, her head seeming like a puppet whose head was being pulled by strings that were too loose. She needed to go sleep the booze off soon.

"Because of the special techniques that Motoko and I can use, we're more attuned to the spiritual presence of others. If the person you think is _the one_ , is able to do it too, things become…amplified." Haruka thought that would be enough of an explanation, but Kitsune was giving her a stare that clearly wanted more.

"What?" Haruka asked when the silence continued to stretch.

"That's nice an' all, but ah was lookin' for more…specific details."

Haruka snorted, taking another drag and blowing it out into the sky.

"Too bad, that's all you're getting. I've shared enough of my private life with you as it is."

Kitsune tried for a few more minutes to get _something_ else out of the shop owner, to no avail. When Haruka was finally left to her own thoughts again, they had started to wander into the very territory Kitsune had been trying to delve into.

Despite the way things had gone with her call to Keitaro, the last two nights had been filled with memories of their time together, along with daydreams of what could happen once they finally saw each other again.

She had quite the collection of costumes for that moment, and was looking forward to putting some of them on… and having them taken off.

Maybe that was why Kentaro was getting on her nerves so much. There was a tension now that had nothing to do with her far too long dry spell. She was wound up from years of sexual abstinence, and from her new employees wannabe-womanizer ways.

"Better grab some more batteries….I think i'm gonna need them."

 **-LineBreak-**

"As much as I appreciate _not_ being fired, i'm very curious as to why." Keitaro said, arms crossed.

Chiharu had simply said, that she had gotten all the info that Tsuruko had, which was honestly pretty vague.

The details that he gave to the detective were much more in depth, and even that wasn't a fully accurate description. She seemed pretty adamant that he remained here.

"That, my boy, has to do with who you are."

She was sitting at her desk, the sun was still blazing in the sky, giving the room an almost ethereal glow through the sheer curtains. It gave an almost divine feeling, as the light flitted around the matriarch. Keitaro could imagine some of the more weak willed people to enter here, being intimidated or entranced by the designed effect.

"You mean, because of my family." He accused. Keitaro was his own person, and he didn't want to be given something just because of his last name. He had learned the hard way, that you had to earn the things you were given. If it appeared to come freely, there would be a return of equal measure expected from him.

"I'll admit, that has a part to play in it." Chiharu said with a sigh, leaning back into her chair. "More to keep appearances with the others, than anything else."

There was a document resting on top of two manilla envelopes on the desk, to her right. Chiharu slid it over to Keitaro, for him to read over.

"The only ones who know even a bit of what you've been through, are myself and Tsu-chan, and I intend to keep it that way."

Keitaro looked at the document, and was perplexed by what he saw. It was a formal agreement between the Aoyama and Urashima families, dated back 8 years ago.

Amidst all the legalese, Keitaro was able to pinpoint that this was detailing a marriage between him and Tsuruko. In exchange, his family would provide an area to be used as a satellite training site.

Continuing down, only skimming the part that detailed how the funds from the new training site would be divided, was an address for the Hinata Inn.

Keitaro felt a brief desire to drag a hand down his face. How could he not remember that the name of the place he'd spent so much time at, had very similar names to his grandmother and the damn town!

"Now let me explain why i've said what I have." Chiharu caught his attention, as he set the document back down. He wasn't really surprised that he'd never heard of the agreement. At the time it was drawn up, he'd been 12. Not too long after, his father had separated them from Granny and the rest.

Keitaro wasn't sure what to make of the absolute seriousness of her expression.

"You know that I have two daughters yes? And that Tsuruko-chan is _not_ the heir to our school, despite being the eldest?"

He'd seen a few family pictures, during the few times he'd been working in the main house. When he'd been there with Tsuruko, his attention had been on her alone.

"I am aware." The first time he saw a picture of the younger daughter, he had to do a double take, thanks to how much it looked like a younger Tsuruko. That was until he saw a picture of them together. The second daughter was definitely younger then him.

"I will not go into the specifics, but 9 years ago, my dear Tsu-chan was caught in a compromising position with a friend of hers." The way the words came out, it was like she was trying to hint that he knew the person she was referring to, without just outright saying it.

'9 years ago huh? Didn't Tsu-chan say….' No, he refused to think that his romantic position was about to get more complicated. He had enough to deal with in that aspect of his life.

"Our family is _very_ traditional in a variety of ways. Even though we are predominately female, some things just aren't looked upon favorably. Same sex relationships being one of them."

That wasn't hard to picture for him. Families like the Aoyamas were heavily rooted in their ways.

A lesbian as the next head of the family would not be taken to kindly, not when they were looking for that person to bring about the next generation. He had to keep on task, and not picture Tsuruko in some of the positions he'd witnessed of that nature.

"That's a little hard to believe, especially with the male hatred a good portion of the members have."

"Yes…Well, our previous head instructor had her marriage fall apart in a bad way. Her dark outlook on men infected the students, and it's been hard to expel." She looked off to the side, where a larger picture was hanging on the wall. Keitaro glanced at it, seeing what appeared to be over a dozen people, and wasn't sure which of the 8 women were the one Chiharu was talking about.

"Ahem back on topic. Tsuruko was removed as the heir, despite my efforts to sway them otherwise. She'd always been talented, but when they started looking at her like a leper, calling her a whore in not so many words… It drove her to train relentlessly."

Keitaro fought down the anger that swelled in him, at hearing how his…friend, had been treated by her own family.

"She thought that, if she could prove to be better than any of the others, at the very least she would earn their respect back, if not her position." Chiharu shook her head sadly.

"I doubted it would work, but it was worth a shot at least. What ended up happening, was they started to _fear_ her strength. If Tsu-chan wanted, she could use a duel to reclaim her spot as the heir. But that would only further ostracize her from a good portion of the family. If she challenged and beat each of the elders, she would gain control again. They offered her placement as interim head mistress as a peace offering."

Her gaze became hard again. It wasn't directed at him, but more the memory of what had happened.

"It was a double edged sword. They would give her a temporary position high within our school, but once the time was right, she was expected to marry for the benefit of the school…and would be removed from our rosters."

Keitaro clenched his jaw. He didn't have the same level of knowledge that he would have, if his mother and grandmother had kept with his training. But he was pretty sure he understood what that meant.

Chiharu saw his expression and nodded. "Yes, they were going to kick her out, forbid her from using our teachings ever again."

Keitaro was about to voice his opinion on that particular notion, but Chiharu stopped him.

"But…" Her hand raised to interrupt. "I managed to hold that off, for a time."

Chiharu held up the document he'd read just before.

"I had the pleasure of meeting you once, when you were very small." Keitaro rose an eyebrow at that.

"It was only for a moment, but enough that I could get a good enough read on you. Our families have been friends for a very long time Keitaro-kun, Hina-chan and I alone, have been close for decades. From what I had seen and felt from you, along with her depiction of how you were growing up, I knew that you and Tsu-chan would be a great fit."

Chiharu set the document back on the desk, on the opposite side of the envelopes.

"Hina agreed that a match was a good idea. _This-_ " She gestured to the document again. "Is the only other copy of that agreement. I imagine that Hina wanted to wait until you were older to bring it up, she said that your mother wouldn't even consider telling you until you'd reached 16."

Her expression turned morose, and Keitaro kept quiet, as all the information flooded him.

"This agreement kept the council appeased. At least, until your mother passed." The pinch in his chest was a very near physical sensation. Remembering those last days with his mother never did anything less.

"When your father went off grid, Hina called it off. The elders were in a frenzy, and Tsu-chan was subjected to marriage meetings almost relentlessly."

The way this woman could switch expressions was mind boggling, but a smile once again stretched over her lips, the lines at the corners of her eyes scrunching and becoming more evident.

"And what should happen when she leaves one of those meetings, but for her life to be saved by _you_."

Keitaro played that day back in his mind, and wondered if that was why she hadn't noticed the truck about to splatter her on the pavement. Perhaps that man next to her was the suitor even? No…that would be too awkward, especially if the meeting hadn't gone well.

"The moment the name of our new handyman was known, they all just….stopped, _months_ before they were about to pressure her into accepting one of the suitors."

"Kei-kun" Suddenly, Keitaro wondered if it was a family trait, to just shorten his name.

"The things I said, were solely based on what I was told, and saw briefly for myself. Had I known that-" Keitaro was the one to interrupt this time.

"That I am involved with the woman that helped put your daughter in her position?"

Chiharu blinked twice, not expecting his input, before chuckling.

"Yes, that…" At least that mystery was cleared up for good now. Keitaro would ponder on how he felt about this development later. The timing of Tsuruko's situation would have been before things between him and Haruka really started progressing physically.

"Had I known, I wouldn't have made that statement to Hina. I won't claim to understand or even _like_ some of the decisions my daughter has made. But I can deal with that, because I see how much happier she is with you. I haven't seen her smile like that in a very long time."

Keitaro let his thoughts fall to away when he heard that. Had she really been so miserable? Thinking about her, he could only say yes. The only things he could recall her being occupied by in his time here, were her sword, and him.

"Kei-kun, I am in no position to demand anything of you, beyond your duties." He could easily tell that her pleading expression had bled into her daughter, likely both of them, with how much they looked alike.

"But _please_ , speak with Tsuruko. You have her heart in your hands like a vice, and she's scared to even speak to you, because she's afraid you'll just throw out whatever it is the two of you have."

When Chiharu looked up and towards the door, Keitaro became aware that a certain someone had been listening in, for at least a part of the conversation.

"Isn't that right Tsu-chan?"

A very undignified 'Eep!' came from the other side. A handful of seconds later, the door opened to reveal Tusurko looking thoroughly embarrassed and nervous. So much so, that the hand on the door knob was shaking lightly.

"Fufufufufu, I will never tire of surprising you kids." Chiharu said as she slid the two envelopes towards Keitaro, and stepped out of the room.

Keitaro looked at the envelopes with a sense of trepidation. He had figured that those were something for the Aoyama family. But it was quite apparent to be for him, with how close to his position she'd deliberately put them. With how things had been lately, he saw those envelopes as another surprise development.

It couldn't have been a bonus, or the terms of his new position. He had read the very specific wording in what Tsuruko had given him before, there were no bonuses, and he knew all the requirements of his status as an instructor.

"Kei…?" The waver of her voice had him looking up, that tone was nothing if not utterly petrified, her hand came to rest on his shoulder. Her eyes, those grayish green irises that normally looked so solid and sure, were glossy, like even a flinch from him would have her running off.

Keitaro knew that it _was_ time for them to talk, especially now that he knew a bit more of her situation, and why she might have been trying to urge their relationship along.

He placed one of his hands atop hers, calloused and scarred over elegant and smooth. Even the palm of her hand was smooth, which didn't really make sense to him, given all the training she did.

Keitaro could both see and feel her relax a bit at his gesture, and came to kneel in front of his chair. It was a bit cramped, with him being as close as he was to the desk.

"Is that why you were pushing so hard for us to be together? Because of the marriage arrangement?" He asked cautiously.

Tsuruko turned her gaze to the side for a moment, chewing her bottom lip.

"It was only part of it."

He waited for the rest of an explanation to come, but Either Tsuruko was unwilling, or just waiting for some other prompt from him. He decided to fulfill the latter.

"And the other part?"

Keitaro was asking, merely to get a more concrete idea for her motives, then anything else. He knew that she cared for him.

"You swept into my life, like no one ever has, and made it feel like the most natural thing. This bond we share," Tsuruko place a hand on his thigh. It was strange, she thought, feeling the tension start to bleed away as the mingling energies were felt.

"I wasn't aware of it, until I was already interested in you. I am not the type of person to jump into things at a moments notice, not things as personal as a relationship. Not unless i'm _certain._ " Tsuruko shifted, so she was kneeling directly in front of him, rather than to the side.

"But I am thankful we have it. It made me realize that my feelings for you were not some fluke, some strange illusion because of my situation." With a hand on each of his legs, Tsuruko leaned forward a little. Her eyes were locked onto his, and vice versa, even though her breasts were now pressing against his knees.

Keitaro noticed of course, thinking it strange that she wasn't using her usual bindings while at home. If he'd been paying attention, he'd have noticed how her chest looked bigger than usual in her training clothes, due to the bindings absence.

"I tried to push our relationship along, because my feelings for you were growing, deepening, faster then I really knew how to handle. I have had a dozen meetings with a small number of the suitors my family has set up. _None of them_ make me feel the way you have in such a short time." Her hands lightly gripped his thighs, and his eyes tried to stay on hers. It was difficult, due to her clothing not being as secure as it usually was. But this was a serious discussion, and he could not let himself be distracted from it.

"One of them is a nice enough man, but we've never really connected enough to be anything more than a casual acquaintance. But I _love you_ Kei… You have a hold on me that I don't know i'll ever be able to escape from."

His gaze finally shifted, up to the two envelopes just at the edge of his reach. It was difficult to look at her, with how she was putting her heart on display for him.

"Tsu-chan, I sympathize and understand _why_ you wanted things to move so quickly, but-" Keitaro started, only to stop when Tsuruko moved to interrupt him. She raised herself, sliding her hands along to his upper thigh.

"But you still love Haruka, I know." She said quietly, their faces were only a few inches apart now. Keitaro had expected to see sadness in her eyes, because he was about to say he loved another as she had proclaimed hers for him again.

"You need to go see her Kei. If not to clear the air of what happened the other night, then do it because she misses you desperately."

Since that night was brought up, Keitaro wanted to ask a question about what Tsuruko had said.

"You said that there was more to the story, For what Haruka said. What did you mean?"

Tsuruko went still for a moment, wondering how to respond. She _really_ wanted to just come clean with what she'd asked Haruka to do. The possible ways he could respond came to mind, and she came to the conclusion that Haruka should tell him. That way he would hopefully see that they both were in agreement on this.

Her hands slid back to their original spot, as she lowered herself.

"When I went to see Haruka, we talked about how each of us felt about you. It would be better if she told you the rest. I take it, you haven't spoken to her since?"

Keitaro shook his head.

"When I went inside, I took the battery out of my phone, and haven't put it back in. I was…afraid of what else she might say to me."

With an elegance very few had, Tsuruko stood. She smiled down at him, liking the way he was obviously trying to not pay particular attention to her chest. Moving quickly, Tusurko grabbed each side of his face, and leaned down to kiss him. It was merely a peck on the lips, but it had still surprised him.

When she drew back, her right thumb was tracing lines on his cheek. It took her a few moments to speak, as the feelings she got from that contact had left her mind nearly blank.

"Go and see her Kei. Let me take care of Kanako-chan tonight. The two of you have been separated long enough."

Wide Brown eyes stared into grayish green. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of leaving Kanako behind. Keitaro trusted Tsuruko, but he was left feeling rather protective after the ordeal with those two women that Chiharu sent to test him.

"I can't just…" Keitaro stopped before the sentence fully formed. Even in his mind, the words seemed too dependent. He was about to say that he couldn't just leave Kanako here. But she was just about 9, and would soon be getting to an age where she _needed_ to spend time with others without him.

The thought of her spending extended periods of time away from him though, induced a brief few moments of anxiety. He needed to mentally prepare himself for when she entered high school. It was years away still, but he'd probably need that entire time to used to the idea.

"Is it that urgent, what you two talked about? I mean…I'd love to see her, and I trust you, but the thought of leaving Kanako here doesn't sit well with me."

"It is Kei." Tsuruko turned around, and picking up the two envelopes, which had her butt directly in his view. She wasn't sure if Keitaro was more of an ass or breasts kind of guy. She was looking forward to finding out.

"This is a conversation that should be in person, and the sooner you two clear the misunderstanding I created, the better." She placed the envelopes in his lap, and he glanced down at them, then at her questioningly.

"I received those when I saw Haruka, they're for you. I meant to give them to you before… the kiss. My mother got nosey and opened them, thinking they were mine. I think you should look at the contents on the way to the Hinata Tea shop."

It would give him plenty of time to at least get the gist of what those documents were saying. All of the legal speak could be gone over after that. But he _really_ needed to open them.

Keitaro thought it over, glancing from the envelopes to Tsuruko. He got the feeling that whatever was inside was important, if she was placing it on the same timetable that he should leave Kyoto.

"I imagine you will have questions, when you open them. If you go and see Haruka, you'll be a few minutes walk from the person that can answer them."

That could only mean one thing. Whatever was inside these, was from Granny Hina. He had disregarded her name being brought up during his adoption of Kanako. But it was becoming apparent that she was up to something, and he wanted to know just what it was.

"What is important enough to be delivered by letter, but not enough that she couldn't just call?" He asked, more to himself than Tsuruko.

"I am sure that the letter inside will explain." Tsuruko replied. She had been told by her mother, that the letter inside attempted to explain the Urashima heads actions.

It was not her place to give up the information however, especially when he would be finding out that his aunt was dead. The train from Kyoto to Hinata was almost assured to be almost empty this evening.

"Your mother read that too?" Keitaro asked, not looking up from the envelopes.

"Yes."

"What it says, did you already know?" He wanted to know if this was something pertaining to that marriage arrangement, or something else.

"I was aware of some of what is detailed in the letter."

"And?"

"Kei, Okaa-sama wanted to give you those in here, because they are important and have information for your eyes only. I believe the best thing for you to do right now, is to go pack clothes to wear tomorrow, and head to see Haruka in Hinata."

Keitaro finally raised his head to meet her eyes again, and she could see the worry in them. Tsuruko could see that he understood that there was something unpleasant waiting for him. Whether that was _only_ the death of his aunt, was yet to be determined.

"But Kanako-"

"I will take care of her for tonight, I promise." A small smile graced her lips. "And I know how much a promise means to a Urashima."

Haruka had explained years ago, that breaking a promise to a Urashima, was as good as turning a friend to an enemy in an instant. If you wanted them on your side in anything, you had to keep to your word.

 **-LineBreak-**

It wasn't an easy decision to make, but Keitaro had decided to leave his daughter in the hands of Tsuruko for the night. That was still a strange thought… _daughter._ He was a dad now, officially.

Poor Kanako had almost started crying, when he told her, that he'd be gone for the night. It was only made marginally better, when he told her that she'd be spending the night with Tsuruko. Kanako had taken to the swordswoman well, something that Keitaro was grateful for, with how much time they'd spent together since coming to Kyoto.

The train had been scarcely populated, and Keitaro had thankfully decided to pick a car that was empty. The letter that Granny Hina had written, left him in tears for most of the ride.

 _My dearest Grandson,_

 _First and foremost, I must apologize, for I have failed you and Kanako-chan. The Shuzens made it clear, that any interaction with you, would have them forcefully taking you and Kanako into their human trafficking business._

 _I saw that, at the very least, you were safe and healthy when they approached me. I wasn't willing to risk having you sold into slavery. I had been so close to approaching you, and it broke my heart that I couldn't._

 _It was cowardly and dishonorable, and I will always regret not having a more active role in your lives._

 _Even after they didn't have their claws into your life anymore, I was unable to be present for you both._

 _My daughter, your aunt Yoko, was diagnosed with cancer, and passed away nearly 2 years ago. Much of my and Haruka's time went into her care during that time._

 _She passed in her sleep, thank the gods for that small mercy. Haruka has taken over the tea shop down from the old inn._

 _Words cannot express how much I have wanted to see the two of you again, nor can they tell of how proud of you I am. Keitaro, you have become an incredible man, even more so than I had hoped. Kasumi would be so proud of you._

 _I do not deserve your forgiveness, but I hope that what I have left for you, will serve you well._

 _A father needs to be able to provide and care for his children, I wanted to ensure that some of this burden would be lifted from your shoulders._

 _You are my heir Keitaro._

 _The documents in these envelopes contain all the legal processes to make that official. Our family has many ties in many places, all of which will one day be yours, and a third of that has been separated for your immediate use once you sign the documents and have them filed._

 _There is only one request I would make of you. Keep our family Inn alive. It is among the oldest remaining pieces of the Urashima name._

 _The Hinata-sou was built as an inn for the powerful and influential, but it is yours to do with as you wish._

 _Yoko and I, had planned a tour of the worlds hot springs. I intend to honor her memory, and our promise, by keeping to this promise. I imagine that most of my remaining days on this earth will be spent this way._

 _I do hope that you and I will have the chance to speak face to face before then. Even if you seethe at my very existence, I pray that you do me this one kindness. I am old Keitaro, and our family has had enough strife and tragedy these last few years._

 _I want you to know, that my love for you and your daughter reaches further than the stars._

 _Granny Hina._

Many had looked at him strangely, as he walked out of the train station. A young man that looked the very definition of fit and capable, had tears streaming down his face and eyes as red as blood.

He didn't care, and called for a cab to take him to the address that he'd gotten from the marriage document that Chiharu had shown him.

His arrival in Hinata now had another objective. He wanted to tell Haruka that he was sorry that he wasn't there when her mother had been sick and passed.

 **-LineBreak-**

It was almost time to close, and Haruka was glad that she could spare herself the pain of keeping Kentaro here for even a moment longer.

"Oi, Sakata-san! Go home!" she called out loudly from the other side of the tea shop.

The high school third year turned from the front door, where he'd just escorted the last of the customers he'd spent far too long flirting with. The start of the next semester couldn't come soon enough for her. Then she would have to deal with him less, since she couldn't justify firing him just yet.

He turned, and she visibly shuddered when that greasy smile turned on her.

"I really wish you would just call me Kentaro, Haruka-san. Surely with the close quarters in which we work, our relationship has developed that far."

No, it hadn't. The _only_ reason she didn't demand he refer to her by family name, was because of how often Granny came in here. She didn't want any chance for confusion. The last time someone called for a Urashima, and they were both in the building, Granny Hina had run with it.

"And I really wish that you wouldn't flirt with anything that has breasts and is above the age of consent."

Haruka picked up a few clean plates that needed to be placed back onto the shelf, before making her way to pick up the last dirty one. She came to regret that move almost instantly, as her new hire misinterpreted her words.

The bell above the door to her shop chimed, telling her that someone had entered. At the same time, she felt the world tilt.

Kentaro had swooped into her personal bubble, and dipped her low, with one hand at the small of her back and the other at the back of her head. His face was _entirely_ too close to her, he was almost close enough that her cigarette nearly touched his cheek.

"Why Haruka-chan, if you were feeling jealous, all you had to do was say so." Her eyes widened, surprised that this guy had taken what she said so wrongly. His smile was smug and lustful.

"A woman of your caliber should be treated like a crown jewel."

The shock of her employee being far too hands on with her, was bleeding into frustration that would turn to anger very quickly if he didn't get his paws off of her.

Just to get an extra little dig in, Haruka took a deep drag from the cigarette from between her lips. She needed to get over to her ashtray, before her apron and clothes were directly exposed to the combustion byproduct. The breath was blown into his face, which had him scrunching and trying not to cough as he held her.

"Set me back up, before the plates in my hand are broken over your fucking head. And if you ever do something like this again, i'll make sure you have a healthy fear of women."

Her threat was met by a fearful expression Kentaro, and a chuckle from off to the side, before a voice followed it.

"You always did have a personal space issue Haru-chan."

Her response was made before she could comprehend whose voice it was.

"If they weren't family, they had to earn that right Kei. You know that."

Saying his name was what had the metaphorical light bulb go off. When it did, she scrambled to her feet, shoved the plates into the hands of her still frightened employee and looked to the doorway.

Standing there with a smile on his face, was a young man that looked more weathered than it should.

Just over 2 inches taller than herself, with muscled shoulders and arms from hours upon hours of manual labor. Shaggy brown hair a shade darker then Kentaro, and brown eyes that were taking her in appreciatively. It was him, Keitaro was _here_ and standing in front of her.

The time apart had been difficult, even more so when she found out the truth, and that made her reaction vastly out of character from what everyone in the area came to expect from her.

"Kei…?" The strangled and hopeful tone made his smile widen, and her eyes grew misty when he nodded. Haruka wasn't able to help the half laugh, half sob as she darted towards him, relieved tears being flung into the air by her speed, her cigarette falling to the floor long forgotten.

Keitaro managed to toss the envelopes onto the table by his side and open his arms to receive her. What he hadn't expected, was for Haruka to leap into the air, before colliding into his embrace.

When she felt his arms wrap around her, hardly even losing air from the forceful contact, Haruka was both surprised and elated. She had expected to drive him to floor, but his strength and balance kept them upright.

Wasting no time, and not wanting to be placed back down, Haruka wrapped her legs around his waste, and her arms behind his neck with one threading through his hair.

The next thing Keitaro knew, his lips were being forcefully prodded by hers, Haruka immediately adding her tongue into the fold. As his eyes closed to give Haruka his full attention, he saw the flabbergasted look on the other man in the room.

Haruka moaned loudly, when she felt Keitaro tighten his arms around her, and could feel his tongue batting against hers with equal fervor. Her lower body acted without conscience thought, trying to press as close to him as possible. While their attire prevented the contact that her body was instinctively searching for, the added closeness was no less pleasant for either of them.

The time came to gasp for air, pulling away only far enough away to do just that, Haruka gazed upon like a fantasy given life. Tsuruko had said that Keitaro was built, but hadn't expected him to turn into _this_. She would have loved him if he were scrawny or overweight.

With her legs feeling the hardened abdomen underneath his shirt, and the muscles on his back shifting from her weight, Keitaro had become her fantasies fantasy.

The things she had said, and the way he had interpreted them, came to the forefront. Haruka lavished him with brief kisses, uttering "I'm sorry" after each and every one.

After a dozen of them, Keitaro tilted his head back.

"Haruka, as happy as I am to see and kiss you, we need to talk." He tried to sound firm and serious, but he was just too happy with having her in his arms to truly accomplish that.

Haruka watched his eyes shift over behind her. She turned, and saw that Kentaro was looking at them jealously. A fierce scowl came over her as she growled out the command to her employee.

"Go. Home. Sakata." The young man turned and quickly made his way out the back door, leaving the two alone. His presence was not wanted.

Keitaro loosened his grip to try and set Haruka down, but she would have none of it, tightening her impressive leg strength to keep her attached to him.

Two pairs of light brown eyes locked on to each other, one relieved and the other pained.

"What's wrong Keitaro?" She asked him gently.

That was when Haruka noticed that his eyes were slightly blood shot. Keitaro tried to turn his head away, only to be turned back by a gentle hand on his cheek.

"I'm so sorry Haru-chan, about Aunt Yoko. I should have been there for you."

Two manilla envelopes were in the corner of her vision, and the adhesive wasn't keeping them closed very well, so she knew that he'd been informed by the letter Granny Hina must have attached to the documents. It shouldn't have surprised her, that he cared more about comforting her for the loss of her mother, then the wealth he'd been given.

Her smile was laced with sadness, that was still gradually fading.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Kei. Your priority was Kanako, and keeping her safe and healthy. It hurts every now and then, but i'm managing."

A brief silence came over them, as neither wanted to stay on that topic. For Haruka, it was because she just didn't like dwelling on the past. Keitaro knew this, and he also had other things he needed to talk to her about. He also had half a mind to march up to the inn and speak with Granny Hina.

"I wish I could say that the only reason I came here, was to see you and apologize for not being there."

Sucking in a subtle, but still harsh breath, Haruka came to another painful thought.

"They didn't take Kanako from you, did they?" She scanned just outside her shop, in case the girl was too nervous to come inside. When nothing came from that, she looked back at him, concerned that her family might have been further torn apart.

Keitaro shook his head with a smile.

"No, _my daughter_ is in Kyoto with Tsuruko." The verbiage had her stunned, but returning the smile all the same.

'Guess i'm gonna be a step-mom.' She thought, not sure how to feel about that yet.

"Haru-chan, I wanted to talk to you, about _us._ " Haruka freed herself from him, and not wanting to be entirely apart, took his hand and led him to the second level where her apartment was. This was not a discussion that should be had in an area so easily eavesdropped on.

Keitaro looked at his surroundings curiously, taking in the way Haruka decorated what had once been her mothers apartment.

On each wall, there was at least one landscape picture, from somewhere she'd been. A snowy mountain with a forest of evergreens at the base, a canyon with a small river running through it, he was happy that she got to travel like she'd always wanted.

There weren't any pictures with people openly shown anywhere he looked. The place was fairly small, but still bigger than his room in Kyoto. Her beige sofa looked old yet comfortable. The coffee table in the center of the room had a few magazines opened, and pages folded to looked at later.

The tv hung on the wall was on, playing some old black and white movie, but the sound was down so low that nothing could really be heard from it.

Haruka led Keitaro by the hand to the couch, sitting them down close together. Turning to sit sideways on the couch, she faced him. She wanted this conversation to move quickly, they had lost time to make up for. She only hoped that Keitaro was willing to listen to what the two women had talked about.

"I don't really know where to start, and it feels almost disrespectful, to think of relationship issues right after finding out about Aunt Yoko." He'd almost decided to just put a hold on this talk. But while he'd only had a few hours to calm down from finding out she died, Haruka had begun moving on from it.

"Do you still love me?" She asked unceremoniously, ignoring his attempt to ease into the subject.

"I never stopped. I thought that you'd moved on, maybe found someone to settle down with while you were traveling." He ended with a scrub to the back of his head.

Where it came from, he'd never know, but Keitaro was immediately struck on the head with a paper fan that felt like it was made of steel. The hand rubbing the back of his head came to the top, trying to ease the burn there.

"Idiot" The fan disappeared just as mysteriously as it appeared. "We made a promise Kei. Did you think that I would just abandon that so easily?"

"Well…No, but how can you be okay with me, after knowing even a little of what i've done?" His question made her scowl. As he waited for her to answer, Keitaro took in the changes since they last saw each other.

Haruka had cut her hair, going back to the shorter style she'd liked before, with the longer bit at the sides. Keitaro liked both styles she'd worn, but the way her hair framed her face was definitely his favorite.

It was surprising to see her with a shirt that covered so much. Her long sleeved maroon shirt had a high collar, keeping most of her neck covered.

Back when they were kids, Haruka had liked the deeper neck line shirts. The tan shorts with leggings underneath weren't anything new, she'd almost never worn a skirt or dress as far as he could remember. It just didn't fit with her preferred lifestyle.

"If you had refused the Shuzens, what would they have done?"

He didn't even want to think of what _could_ have happened. No child deserved to be put through the life that Mira had threatened, least of all Kanako. But…

"Up until my dads debt was repaid, they said that Kanako and I would be taken in to one of their brothels."

Once that debt was paid, their affiliation with the Yakuza family had ended, at least officially. Keitaro had a firm suspicion that Mira wouldn't have had the backing to do a damn thing to him after that. It was that thought, that gave him the courage to break away. His old _employer_ was in a state of flux in her family organization, if she caused too much trouble, she would have been cast out.

"Exactly, so it wasn't worth the risk. You did what you had to do, to keep her safe."

He would never look at it the same way. In his mind, Keitaro considered himself a serial rapist. Some of those girls were so drugged up, they were incapable of consenting.

"I love you Keitaro, that has never, and will never change."

When she held his hand this time, they had both relaxed their control on themselves. Feeling the strength of their bond as he remembered it, had him relaxing greatly. Just touching her, gave him the same feeling as when Tsuruko had kissed him.

"I missed that." She said with a smile. It was pulled more to one side, a habit from almost always having a cigarette between her lips.

"I missed _you._ " He enjoyed the way her eyes seemed to drink him in. It made him feel good, to know that she missed him just as much.

"Where does this leave us?" He gave her hand an extra squeeze. "Because Tsuruko-chan made it sound complicated."

Keitaro was actively trying not to refer to the sword maiden as Tsu-chan, because he didn't want to give the impression that he'd chosen her over Haruka.

"I think the three of us can make it work Kei. It may have some challenges, but if we just-" Haruka started, only to be interrupted.

"Three of us? Oh you mean Kanako." Keitaro rationalized. In his mind, he was picturing how intimate moments would likely have to be planned out, due to her dependency on him.

"No Kei. I meant you, me _and_ Tsuruko."

The absolute silence in the room allowed the tv to actually be heard, as the protagonist lawyer argues over the circumstantial evidence of his client even being in the area of the crime.

Keitaro tried uselessly, to search her eyes fo any signs that she was joking. He wasn't very good at reading expressions on people that were adept at hiding them. Haruka was no different.

" _That's_ the part she wouldn't tell me?" Suddenly the things that Haruka said over the phone started to make more sense.

"I was starting to worry myself sick, and had to take the battery out of my phone, because I couldn't bear to hear you toss me aside." Keitaro leaned into the cushion, giving the idea some thought.

Haruka smiled wider, it felt good to know that still cared so much. She knew that this would be many a mans dream, but _her_ man was just a bit different. He may need a little convincing that this could work, and that she wasn't all that opposed to who the other participant would be.

"Sometimes I wonder how much of my life was just fate doing its thing." Keitaro said, out of the blue.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, laying his head back. The day was starting to catch up with him.

"I fall in love with you, Kanako calling me her dad. I end up working for a woman that you seem to have been rather… _close_ to. Adopting Kanako, then find out that this new woman and I were matched to be married. And now this…"

Haruka blinked once, then twice. She couldn't deny that those were all some pretty slim chances. She was also curious on who told him about the little thing between her and Tsuruko. That was something she thought might get him to accept the idea of a polyamorous relationship a bit better.

"You _do_ care about her right?" Haruka asked slowly. Keitaro nodded, not picking his head up.

"I didn't mean for it to happen. Honestly just wanted to live my life raising Kanako, when I figured you had gone on to someone else."

"Hold up…" Haruka raised her hand to stop him from continuing. "If you and I weren't together, you were just gonna go solo?"

When Keitaro nodded, finally picking his head up to look at her. Haruka gave him an incredulous look, not sure if she should be flattered or smack him in the head for being so stupid.

"Yeah, I mean, who'd want to be with a guy that's done the things I have? Any woman I ended up with would probably find out one way or another, not that I wanted anyone else."

Smacking him was definitely the more prominent urge. Haruka had to take a set of deep breaths to rid herself of that desire. She'd already covered how she viewed his past, now it was time to delve into a topic that could change how they lived their lives forever.

"We've already covered that topic as much as we need to. Kei, what do you think about it, being with the two of us?"

Keitaro just snorted, letting his head drop back to the couch again. What _did_ he think of it? From a purely selfish standpoint, the idea excited him. Having two beautiful women to call his own, stroked at the ego generously. But once you looked passed that, plenty of points against it came to mind.

He was responsible for raising a little girl, and while he didn't doubt that both Tsuruko and Haruka would help in some regards, he didn't see the majority of it being done by anyone else.

Then there was a time management concern. He'd sat in many a conversation, where a previous coworker would complain about how their significant other demanded more of their personal time than was really available.

That was just _one_ woman. What would happen with _two_? Being around Tsuruko was pretty low maintenance right now, but if they took things further, how would that change?

Haruka was…Haruka. She'd had her needy moments, when they were kids, and he doubted that had changed. But generally she was pretty low key.

"I'm confused on why you'd even consider it. I thought the plan was for _the two of us_ to be together?"

He felt her shift, and then her head was laying in his lap. Looking down, Keitaro saw that Haruka was gazing up at him intently. It was nether harsh nor soft, but very _very_ determined.

"You haven't said anything on how you feel about it personally."

One of his hands came down, and started to lightly stroke the top of her head. For just a moment, her eyes fluttered, enjoying the attention.

"What do you want me to say Haruka? You're making it sound like I have to be with her, in order to be with you."

Perhaps she should have sat up at this point, but his ministrations were too nice to leave so soon. Quickly gathering her thoughts, Haruka gave him her feelings on the matter.

"That's not true Kei, I would never strong arm you like that. You know that I love you, and want you to be happy right?"

The time it took him to nod was disheartening. But there was a little nagging feeling in the back of his mind, that maybe Haruka was bringing this up because she wanted to find a way to be with Tsuruko while still keeping her promise to him.

"Tsu-chan and I were close from the time we were little, up until the day her uncle burst into our tent. I want her to be happy too, and she's got a shitty situation hanging over her head because of what we did."

Keitaro nodded once again. "Her mother explained it to me."

"Then you know that she found you right before she was out of time. I _know_ her Kei, when Granny and Chiharu-san set up that match, they were right on the money thinking you two would be great together. It was _our_ relationship that made things complicated."

While the shade of their eyes matched perfectly, the emotions in them couldn't have been different. Hers was of acceptance, his were teeming with wariness as he waited for the other shoe to drop.

"You have two women who love you, that came to the agreement to share you because we can't see ourselves with anyone else. Does that really sound so bad? You said yourself, that you care for her."

Haruka resisted the urge the pout or tap on his hand, when it stopped its movements. It had been lulling her into a sense of calm she didn't want to lose.

"On the surface, no, it doesn't sound bad. While I _do_ care for her, what about you Haru-chan? _If_ I agreed to this, that would mean splitting time between you, Tsu-chan and Kanako… On top of whatever work I might have. Plus, her family wants her married off like, _immediately_."

Keitaro brought both hands to hold onto each side of her face, leaning down so there was very little chance of her not keeping eye contact with him.

"Japan doesn't allow multiple marriages as far as i'm aware, and I want to marry you Haruka. That would basically make you the other woman, and whether we all agree to it or not, most people would not look at you kindly."

"I forgot how much of your heart was on your sleeve Kei." Haruka said, willing down the slight feeling of happy tears wanting to build. The frank admission that he wanted to permanently bind himself to her in yet another way, made her feel a little emotional.

She sat up and turned towards him, kneeling close enough to him that her chest was pressed to his. The smirk that came across her face was definitely R-rated.

"I don't give a damn what other people think of me. Our plan was never really about making it legal, only about us being together. Now, there's just an addition. That addition happens to be someone that I trust and care for, and had a relatively brief romantic involvement with."

His arms came to rest on her waist, as she leaned closer and wrapped his neck.

"You didn't read through those documents, did you?" She asked, already knowing the answer. There was no way he did, not when Granny Hina had dropped the bomb of her mother. He shook his head.

"I understand if you are upset with Granny. Hell, on a small scale, I still am too." Haruka leaned in for a peck on the lips, she going for the kill. They had wasted enough time talking. As needed as it was, she had other things on her mind.

"But think about the chance you're being given Kei. You know what the bond did to me, there's never been any recorded cases of any serious deviation from that. Tsu-chan is only going to fall deeper and deeper, I don't see you _not_ reciprocating most of that. So what if you marry her a bit sooner than you feel ready for? If Granny and Chiharu had gotten their way, you would have been married two years ago. You probably know her better now then you would have otherwise."

Keitaro felt his eyes widen at that, not having seen that in the document he saw.

"If it makes you feel better, you and I can have a ceremony strictly for show. I'm not much for dresses or big gatherings, but I won't deny that I wouldn't enjoy the process."

They both smirked at picturing her in a wedding dress. While she would look beautiful, neither were under any illusions of how uncomfortable she'd be if there were a large audience.

"In the eyes of the law, Tsu-chan will be the proper and elegant wife. And I get to be the side piece that fucks you in whatever way you damn well please. You want to bang a slutty maid on a counter-top? I've got the clothes and locale."

There was an undeniable shift in blood flow happening for the young man. The picture she painting was definitely enticing. He would have the best of both worlds as far as physical intimacy was concerned. Keitaro remembered how… _adventurous_ Haruka had been.

His cousin was more the type for the spontaneous and risqué, while he could only imagine that Tsuruko would be more into the slow and loving sex.

"I understand why you didn't read those documents, not after the stuff about my mom. But Granny is pretty much setting you up for life Kei. Aside from the meager salary the Hinata would give you, there's all the businesses that she's invested in over the years. You get a good sized check up front, and once you take over for her, there's a more than decent flow of income from businesses you might only speak with once or twice a year. All you would really be doing day to day, is doing repairs on the Hinata."

She purposely left out the part about how hard that initial set of repairs would be. The hole in the floor between Naru and Granny being a prime example of such repairs.

Keitaro thought over everything she'd said. The biggest boon in his opinion, were the funds that he'd have for taking care of Kanako. He wasn't a very materialistic person, but he'd be damned if Kanako ever had to worry about not having something she needed, or wanted, within reason. He would admit that he enjoyed spoiling her a certain amount, but it had to be done in moderation. He didn't want her turning out to be one of those entitled kids, who felt the world owed them everything.

This was when he noticed that Haruka had slowly and discretely moved into his lap, now lightly grinding herself on him.

"If I agree to all of this, what happens then?" He asked, holding her firmly in place on his lap, stopping her movements. Haruka frowned, because she starting to get a good feel of him through his jeans.

"First, we go downstairs and have you sign all the paperwork. Second, I drag you back up here so I can get reacquainted with having your cock in my mouth. After that little warm up, I fully intend to _ride_ you until we collapse. If I can walk in the morning, i'll take you up to see Granny, so you two can talk."

It was so strange, how easily Haruka seemed to override how his body reacted to anything sexual. With Tsuruko, it had only _just_ started to happen, but Haruka nearly had him wanting to just say fuck it and tear her clothes off now.

He rubbed at his chin mock-thoughtfully, looking up towards the ceiling.

"Hmmmmm…. You drive a hard bargain. I only find one issue with this proposal."

He smirked as Haruka kept trying to buck her hips. Her mind was clearly having a hard time staying on the topic of this 'theoretical relationship' and overall situation.

"Keitaro Urashima, i'm about at my wits end here. _Please_ baby, i've waited so long to have you back in my arms. 6 _years_ of dildos, vibrators, beads, or fingering myself."

She used her deceptive strength to grab his hands and thrust them up to her chest, allowing her the movement she wanted.

"I _need_ to feel you inside me." Touching her, in such an intimate manner, was so easy. It was almost as if he hadn't been through a personal hell for over 2 years of his life. With her, Keitaro felt none of that same hesitance.

As the conversation had devolved into the would be relationship, Keitaro had been thinking on how he felt on going through with it. The big problem, was how deeply he cared for Tsuruko, or didn't.

He'd admitted that being married to her wouldn't be a bad thing, while they were shopping. At the time, he just hadn't realized how serious her family was about them being wed, or their time table for it.

He knew that Haruka was right about the bond, he'd witnessed it once before, and Tsuruko was following a very similar path. He wanted to make her happy with him, she wanted to make him happy with her. The only hiccup in that, had been his reaction a few nights ago.

She was beautiful, she was kind, she had a sense of humor that he enjoyed, and she got along splendidly with Kanako. He had very little to say against agreeing. While she may have been a bit pushy, she had respected the boundaries he set, if he ever started to pull back.

If the women in his life wanted this, who was he to deny them? They had even taken the initiative and talked about it amongst themselves first, before bringing it up with him. Keitaro was quite sure, that this was something that happened even more rarely than being bonded to two women as he was.

"Okay Haru-chan." He said softly, getting her to stop. "But I have one alteration to make."

He only waited a moment, and when she started to tilt her head he made his move. The hands that were on her chest slid around to her back, and Keitaro turned to push her onto the couch quickly. She gave a quiet yelp from being set off balance so unexpectedly.

Seeing him postured over her, a loving smile on his lips that were so close to hers, she knew that things were going to be all right. Her hands had once again found themselves wrapped around his neck, one threading through his hair.

"Before we go and deal with those papers, I want to show you, how much i've missed you." One of his hands drifted under her apron, and to the button of her shorts.

The oral initiative of their relationship had been one of their shared favorites after all, it was well passed time to revisit that.

 **-LineBreak-**

This morning heralded something that Shinobu was sure that _none_ of the residents had ever seen before.

Haruka was _smiling_!

It wasn't her usual small smirk when she found something funny. No, this was a full blown smile. She looked so pretty!

What else caught her attention, was the rather haphazard way the older woman was dressed. The young chef had never seen the woman out of her usual trend, which was a long sleeved shirt and decent lengthen shorts.

On this day, Haruka was in a button down flannel shirt that looked far too heavy for the warm weather, and a pair of shorts that barely peeked out from underneath.

She pondered what made her so happy, because she looked like she hadn't gotten any sleep. Her hair was a bit disheveled, and the way she was standing made it seem like she was having trouble finding any sort of comfortable position.

"Good morning Haruka-san!" The young girl greeted brightly.

When Haruka turned to regard the girl, she was almost able to hide a wince from the movement, but if anything that made her smile even more.

"It certainly is, Shinobu." The shop owner took another sip of her tea.

Even though her voice was a little hoarse, there was a warmth to it that was unusual. Not that she was complaining any. Heck, with how strange things had been over the past few months, Shinobu welcomed the change.

If Haruka was happy, than Shinobu was happy for her. The chef would recommend that the older woman regularly seek out whatever brought this change.

"Say kiddo, you didn't happen to notice if Granny was awake yet, did you?" Shinobu looked at the clock, just to verify that she hadn't gotten up either early or late. She confirmed that she had entered the kitchen promptly at 6.

"I'm sorry Haruka-san, but I didn't really notice, on my way down. She's usually starting to wake about now though."

Haruka nodded as she took a sip.

"Oh sweet merciful gods I needed this." Haruka nearly moaned, and Shinobu caught the scent of the tea that was generally used to soothe a sore throat.

"Are you feel okay Haruka-san?" She couldn't think of a time where Haruka had ever really been sick, at least not noticeably. Perhaps it was bad enough that she had to go to the doctor, and that was why she wanted Granny?

Haruka chuckled into her cup. Shinobu may have been seeing a trick of the rising sun coming through the window, but she almost thought that she saw the womans eyes twinkle!

"Better than i've felt in a _long_ time."

There was a creak that came from behind the chef, and it nearly had her jumping out of her skin. This was followed by the familiar muffled laugh of their landlady.

"Sorry my dear, I didn't actually mean to sneak up on you this time!" The short older woman swept into the room with near silent footsteps.

"Well now, I haven't seen you here _this_ early in quite a while Haru-chan! What's the occasion?"

Whatever was ailing Haruka, must be affecting her throat pretty badly, because the woman was drinking down the pipping hot tea rather quickly. It was almost as if she had urgent business to return to.

Haruka sipped her glass with one hand, reaching to the counter with the other, and lifted two envelopes that looked oddly familiar to the blue haired chef.

"You'll never guess who dropped by with _these_ last night." Shinobu looked between the two women curiously. Haruka was waving the envelopes like they had a very significant meaning, and Granny Hina had gone completely still.

This morning seemed to be filled strange occurrences, because she'd never seen Granny Hina so surprised that she didn't react right away. Even then, the sweet old woman didn't take long to compose herself.

"I have to admit, that was sooner than expected." The Urashima Matriarch commented, blinking several times. It was then, that Haruka's attire and exhaustion became the object of her scrutiny.

"Yeah…well, Tsu-chan had a hand to play in that."

Granny Hina sighed despondently, which only seemed to amuse Haruka even more.

"I had so hoped that things would work out between them. They would have been so good for each other."

Haruka took great pleasure in the few times that she had been able to throw off the old bat this much.

"Oh don't worry, _that_ little scheme of yours is still in play."

Granny gave Haruka a more obvious once over, which had the shop owner shrugging. It was almost like they were communicating with only looks.

"What did you think her brief appearance at the beach was about? The two of us are getting what we want in the end."

"Then things are to move forward still?" Shinobu was lost in the vague conversation that the other two were having. She was getting the distinct feeling, that whatever they were talking about, was going to somehow impact the dorm in some fashion.

"Once he gets back, I imagine we'll get confirmation rather quickly. We had a rather lengthy discussion about it before heading to bed."

Shinobu started to blush as things came together in her mind. Being that she was only 12, it was a rather juvenile depiction, compared to the actual events that transpired down the lengthy stairs. Nevertheless, Shinobu knew enough from listening to Kitsune, that the verbiage and appearance of Haruka, meant that she had spent the night with a boy.

She imagined that the two had started off holding hands for several minutes, trading glances before they felt comfortable enough to take things a step further, at which point they would hug and embrace each other.

When even that didn't seem to be enough, they would slowly close the distance between them and….and…. _kiss!_

It was almost too much for her young mindset to handle.

"This is serious Haruka." Granny said, in a more serious tone than Shinobu could ever recall hearing.

"On that, we agree. I admit I had an important part to play in what went down that night. But I will not apologize for the asinine way they reacted. Nor will I apologize for getting in the way of a plan you put in place that almost no one knew about. Make no mistake Granny, if this had been with _anyone_ else, i'd have taken him for myself."

Granny Hina recollected on all of the events briefly. In all honesty, she could not fault her granddaughter. The way that the Aoyama family had treated Tsuruko was beyond ridiculous.

Granted, a good portion of her insight only came much later, but it wasn't as if the girls were looking to run away together. By the time the event had occured, Haruka had already established something resembling a relationship with Keitaro, but even _she_ had written it off as Haruka being affectionate with her favorite relative.

There had been no indication of the true scope of things at the time. Haruka had been clever enough, and skilled enough to hide it. The incident had been a curiosity for the swordswoman in training, and outlet for Haruka.

"May I ask, where my wayward-" Granny tried to ask, only to be cut off.

"My place washing up."

Haruka had finished her cup of tea, and motioned for Granny Hina to accompany her. The landlady turned to Shinobu, giving her an apologetic smile.

"I am not sure that I will be back in time for your wonderful breakfast my dear. Please don't bother yourself fixing a portion for me."

 **END!**

 **chapter 9 will be jumpy in prep for chapter 10, which will be the move to Hinata.**


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